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A.H.CADWALI.ADER LITH. RICHMOND IND. 



A TEACHER'S 



D 



S AND DOWNS 



FROM 1858 TO 1879. 






,jLi^lisi 1 1 Jca 1 1 /•«- * y r 



All Rights Reserved. 



RICHMOND, IND. : 

PALLADIUM STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 
1879. 



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PREFACE. 



I have felt for many years that the Lord was 
calling me to give all my time to preaching His 
gospel, at all times, and wherever He should be 
pleased to send me ; but as I had a large family to 
support, and was in debt, too, I did not see how they 
could live, or how I could pay my debts. I tried 
for several years to work and preach, and to do all 
the good I could. Nothing I could do seemed to 
prosper. I at last came to the conclusion that I 
must make a full surrender or sacrifice, for the 
Lord would not accept a half one. 

The latter part of the year 1878, I felt willing to 
give up all and labor for the Lord, if he would take 
care of my family, and help me to get my debts 
paid. It was then that the thought was deeply im- 
pressed on my heart that if I would write a book, 
giving sketches of all the schools I had ever taught, 
and of various meetings that I have held in differ- 
ent places, that it would be the means, by the aid 
of the Lord's blessing upon it, of helping me 
through. 

Under these circumstances I bring forth the fol- 
lowing pages before the public. While writing the 
first part of this book, I held meetings every night, 
and sometimes in the day time, missing but two or 
three nights in three months. These meetings were 



the most powerful and successful of any that I have 
ever attended, showing fully, to my mind, that if I 
was willing to do my part, the Lord would do His, 
of the great work of gathering souls into His king- 
dom ; for truly " the fields are white unto the har- 
vest, but the laborers are few." And how many are 
standing idle, with their arms folded ! Has not the 
language of our blessed Master been sounded into 
your ears: "Go, work in my vineyard ?" There 
is work for all to do. 

" Go, work in My vineyard; oh, work while 'tis day; 
The bright hours of sunshine are hastening away, 
And night's gloomy shadows are gathering fast, 
When the time for our labor shall ever be past. 
Begin in the morning, and toil all the day; 
Thy strength I'll supply, and thy wages I'll pay; 
And blessed, thrice blessed, the diligent few 
Who finish the labor I've given them to do." 

Hoping that the Lord's blessing may rest upon 
these pages, and that your prayers may go with me 
as I go up and down in the land, may the Lord re- 
member in mercy, 

The Author, 



INDEX. 



PAGK. 

First School 1 

Memories 2 

Noah Webster 2 

Second School 6 

Strange Bible Facts 7 

Third School S 

Curious Derivations 11 

Scientific 12 

Fourth School 12 

Alphabetic Khymes 14 

FifthSchool 15 

School 's Out , 18 

Reading Aloud 20 

The Seven Wise Men 20 

Faith 21 

Pronunciations 22 

Sixth School 22 

Isaac Newton 24 

Fretting 25 

Flowers 25 

Going to School 26 

Seventh School 30 

What Shall We Eat? 32 

Many Facts in Small Compass 32 

How to Float 33 

It Is Not Always May 34 

The School House in the Woods 35 

Eighth School 38 

What It Did 42 

Laughter 44 

Oonumdrums 45 



VI. INDEX. 

My First Going to School 4(5 

Ninth School 41 

A Teacher in God's School 51 

Tenth School 54 

Educate 59 

Eleventh School GO 

The Beautiful Old Story 62 

By Their Fruits 63 

Only 65 

The Church Walking with the World 66 

Visit Your Schools 70 

Twelfth School 70 

Paradoxes 73 

Whittier, the Quaker Poet 73 

Thirteenth School 7S 

On Kindness 80 

On Swearing 80 

The Infidel and his Daughter 81 

Epitaph 82 

Fourteenth School 83 

A Dying Wish 84 

Sweet Words 85 

George Muller 85 

Fifteenth School 86 

The Sparrow's Inquest 88 

Sixteenth School 88 

God's Baven 89 

Wise Saws 91 

Trip to the Southwest 91 

Seventeenth School 94 

The Praise Meeting of the Flowers 96 

Don't Neglect the Children 97 

Eighteenth School 101 

Footprints of Deity 105 

Found in the Snow 106 

A Lamp to thy Feet 108 

Nineteenth School 108 

Trip through Kansas Ill 



INDEX. Vll. 

Honor Old Age 120 

Shut the Gate 120 

What is Earth? 122 

Twentieth School 122 

Make Eoom for the Boys 137 

Kiss your Child Good-night 140 

•John Jankens' Sermon 141 

Twenty-first School 142 

Johnny Flaxnian 14f> 

Einging the Water Boy 149 

Abide with Me 151 

The Simple Church 151 

Twenty-second School 152 

The Unbarred Door 154 

Twenty-third School 158 

My Mother's Hands 102 

Benjamin Franklin 103 

A Particular Providence 166 

A Teacher's Book of Thanks 107 

Twenty-fourth School , 10S 

A Bird Lesson 171 

Consider the Lilies 172 

Which Loved Best 17.°. 

Power of Kindness 174 

What to do with a Wheelbarrow 170 

Twenty-Fifth School 177 

A Prayer 188 

In Memoriam 181' 

Thirst of the Soul 190 

Off to the Indian Territory 191 

The Chemistry of Tobacco 196 

The Prayers of Our Lord 197 

Twenty-Sixth School 198 

How he Kept House 203 

Bishop Simpson's Life Saved by Prayer 204 

Personal Appearance of Jesus 20G 

John 207 

The Christian and his Echo ... 210 

Twenty- Seventh School 21 i 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



i I commenced my first school about the 4th of 
12-month, 1858, at the brick school house on Nolan's 
Fork, Wayne County, Indiana. The house was five 
miles northwest of Richmond, on the east bank of 
the stream. It was a brick house, standing east 
and west, one door in the west, three windows on 
each side, blackboard across the east end, also a 
platform the same ; "good patent desks, good stove, 
well fixed with charts, maps, and things needful. 
There were about fifty pupils enrolled during the 
term, from little boys and girls to young men and 
women. 

It. was my first attempt at school teaching, and 
I, like many others, thought that I knew it all, but 
the longer I taught the less I found that I knew. 

It was a three months term : in those days we 
had to teach sixty-five days for a quarter. I received 
twenty-five dollars per month, and we did not re- 
ceive our pay until the next Spring following. We 
commenced our work of a morning at half-past 
eight and closed at half-past four. The games that 
we played : " base," " black man," and " town ball." 
I enjoyed the fun of playing as much as any of the 
scholars. I thought it was my duty to play with 
the pupils so that I might have an oversight among 
them. 



2 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

One young woman was very fond of reading 
novels. I noticed one day that she was very atten- 
tive, to her book, especially her geography. I 
watched her for awhile and I noticed that her book 
was wrong end up. I told her I did not want any 
more of that kind of work done at my school. She 
felt very badly about it and I never saw her read 
those books any more. Although not a professor 
at this time I was much opposed to such reading- 
matter, believing it to be very injurious. 

] Teachers in those .days were hired by the people 
ofi^ach school district. They would call a meeting 
of the patrons of the school. Sometimes there 
would be several applicants for the same school. 
At this school there were three of us that applied. 
I received the highest number of votes and was 
elected. There were directors who had charge of 
the papers and gave orders for wood, tuition, etc\ 

There was one little boy by the name of Borton, 
that I shall never forget. He was blind in one eye, 
and seemed to feel as if every person looked down 
on him because he was blind. I had much sympa- 
thy for him and showed him all the respect possible. 
1 1 I have often thought of what Horace Mann said to 
teachers : " Teachers, if a scholar ever enters your 
school with a club-foot, or ragged clothes on, or any 
other defects at all, never let on as though you see 
them. If any way pay more attention to them than 
others." There has always been a warm place in 
my heart for such pupils. A teacher will never 
lose anything by respecting persons of this class. 
I speak of this circumstance by way of encourage- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



xnent to young teachers especially. A teacher 
should cultivate a spirit of love and sympathy for 
every pupil they have in their school. I also 
speak of this little boy that if he is living and his 
eyes should ever rest upon these pages, he may 
know that his old teacher had often thought of him. 

This I moreover hold, and dare 
Affirm where'er my rhyme may go — 
Whatever things be sweet or fair, 
Love makes them so. 

In those days the young and old men would 
meet at some of the school houses one night in the 
week for the purpose of debating, and we all took 
an interest and tried to see how much we could 
learn. Joseph Quigg was a champion debater, a 
fine speaker and a noted infidel. In a few years 
after this he was converted to the Christian religion, 
and he was now just as bold for the Lord as he had 
been for Satan. He said that before he was con- 
verted he was always looking for the "black sheep" 
in the flock, but now he looked for the white, and 
there were more white ones than he thought there 
were. He has long since gone the way of all the 
world, with the bright evidence behind that he had 
gone home to glory. 

'^Spelling schools were quite common in this coun- 
try in those days, and all people that attended would 
take part in the spelling, the main object seeming 
to be to see who could beat spelling. 

There was a boy who attended this school by the 
name of Cox, that was a good speller and a good 
reader — good spellers will nearly always be good 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 



T, 



readers. fU my school this winter the pupils got in 
the habitof tagging. I put a stop to it on the school 
grounds, but they would wait until they would get 
nearly half a mile away, then they would go to tag- 
ging again. The school house stood in the corner 
of a woods pasture with a high stake and riderect 
fence between the house and the road. I had a 
pocket telescope, and after the children would get 
quite a distance away I would slip down to the cor- 
ner and with the instrument I could see them very 
plain. They would tag some, then they would look 
to see me. The next morning I would tell them 
who had been at such work. It broke it up entirely, 
and they never knew until the last day of school 
how I could tell so well who were the ones that diso- 
beyed. Then I told them how it was. The reason 
that I objected to that kind of play was, that trouble 
generally grew out of such sport. 

Miles Hunt was one of the directors, and he did 
all he could for the benefit of the school. He has 
long since passed away, and his amiable wife also. 
His children are still living happily together at the 
old homestead. 

There was a young slave from Cuba that had run 
away from his master, and was lecturing in this 
part of the country. He was a fine speaker and a 
noble looking man and no one thought of him being 
a slave. He spoke to several large congregations in 
Eichmond and in various school houses in the coun- 
try. He had an appointment at my school house. 
Word came to Eichmond that he was a slave and 
that there was a reward of one thousand dollars 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 



offered for him. He had come to Nathan Hunt's 
in the morning before the word came to town. 
There were some fellows who had made it up to 
come out that night and take him and get the re- 
ward offered, but some one heard of the plot, mount- 
ed a horse and come out at full speed and told him 
about four o'clock. He disappeared in a moment 
across the road into a field and was not heard of any 
more in that part of the country. The boys come 
out about seven o'clock but their bird had flown. 

My school closed to good satisfaction ; we had 
an examination of all the studies ; the pupils had 
made rapid advancement. I really did not know 
how much I was attached to and how much I did 
love them, until we were called to part. 

MEMORIES. 

Memories on which we dwell — 
Are they those that, well defined 

By their crystal clearness, quell 
Saddest longings of the mind? 

NOAH WEBSTER. 

Noah Webster, whose greatest monument is the 
" Unabridged Dictionary," is probably the most con- 
sulted of all human writers. The New York School 
Journal asserts, as " something on which to found 
fame," that the total circulation of this author's 
works has reached a figure second only to that 
attained by the Bible itself. 

A painstaking arithmetician has calculated that 
seventeen or eighteen millions pounds of paper, equal 
to nine thousand tons, have been imprinted with the 



6 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DCWNS. 

"words, words, words," which Webster used as the 
roadway wherewith to convey to the public the very 
important things he had to say. To "cover" only 
one class of his publications, at least three thousand 
sheep have patiently contributed their own cover- 
ings, and in all the departments of work necessi- 
tated by the editorial, mechanical and business- 
preparation and management of all this phenom- 
enal publication, not less than a thousand persons 
obtain the means whereby they live. 

The man to whom we refer produced one book, 
the "American Spelling Book," not bulky in size, 
nor superhuman as to material, but which never- 
theless, still circulates at the rate of a million copies 
a year. 

Little by little our tasks are done, 
So are the crowns of the faithful won, 
So is heaven in our hearts begun; 
With work and with weeping, with laughter and play,. 
Little by little the longest day 
And the longest life is passed away, 
Passing without return — while so 
% , 3Phe new years come and the old years go. 

After my first school closed I moved to Miami 
County, Indiana. I commenced my second school 
one-half mile west of Xenia — a subscription school 
for two months. It was a new part of the country. 
My school house was built of logs and was about 
fourteen feet square, with slab benches, no desks, 
and a small blackboard about eighteen inches wide 
and three feet long. I had about thirty enrolled, 
the most of them small. There were two little girls, 
by the name of HiaU, very nice little girls, that, 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 



were always there early, with their bright, smiling 
faces."] They nearly always brought some flowers 
with tltem for me. I always have loved children. 
I taught this school the Summer of 1859 ; the school 
house stood just at the edge of the timber ; the little 
folks would build houses with chunks and moss. I 
have often watched them and heard them talk. 
How many beautiful lessons may we all learn from 
little folks if we only stop to watch them. Children 
in this day and age of the world think that they 
cannot go to school unless they have a nice house 
and good desks to sit at. Those children at my 
school never thought that there could be any better 
accommodations. I had one visitor during the 
school — he looked as though he was lost. I often 
think of those little boys and girls ; those of them 
that are living are now grown up to manhood and 
womanhood ; how time makes his mark on all of 
us. We had a nice time at the close of the term. 
I felt as though I had endeavored to do my duty in 
trying to learn them all I possibly could. 
So closed my second term of school. 

STRANGE BIBLE FACTS. 

The learned Prince of Grenada, heir to the Span- 
ish throne, imprisoned by the order of the Crown, 
for fear he should aspire to the throne, was kept in 
solitary confinement in the old prison at the place 
of Skulls, Madrid. After thirty-three years in this 
living tomb, death came to his release, and the fol- 
lowing remarkable researches, taken from the Bible 
and marked with an old nail on the rough walls of 



8 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

his cell, told how the brain sought employment 
through the weary years : 

In the Bible the word, Lord, is found 1,853 times ; 
the word, Jehovah, 6,855 times, and the word, Bever- 
end, but once, and that in the 9th verse of 111th 
Psalm. The 8th verse of the 117th Psalm is the mid- 
dle verse of the Bible. The 9th verse of the 8th chap- 
ter of Esther is the longest verse, and the 35th verse 
of the 11th chapter of St. John is the shortest. In 
the 106th Psalm four verses are alike, the 8th, 15th, 
21st and 31st. Each verse of the 136th Psalm ends 
alike. No names or words with more than six syl- 
lables are found in the Bible. The 37th chapter of 
Isaiah and 19th chapter of Second Kings are alike. 
The word, girl, occurs but once in the Bible, and 
that in the 3d verse and 3d chapter of Joel. There 
are found in both books of the Bible, 3,586,483 let- 
ters, 773,693 words, 31,373 verses, 1,139 chapters 
and 66 books. The 26th chapter of the Acts of the 
Apostles, is the finest to read. The most beautiful 
chapter in the Bible is the 23d Psalm. The four 
most inspiring promises are, John, 16th chapter 
and 2d verse, John, 6th chapter and 37th verse, St. 
Matthew, 11th chapter and 28th verse, and the 37th 
Psalm and 4th verse. The first verse of the 60th 
chapter of Isaiah, is the one for the new convert. 
All should read the 6th chapter of Matthew. All 
humanity should learn the 6th chapter of St. Luke, 
from the 20th verse to its ending. 

I commenced my third term of school in the 
northeast corner of Howard County, Indiana, in the 
Winter of 1859-60. They hired me for three months 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 9 

at twenty-five dollars per month ; one-half of this 
was to be public money, the other half to be paid 
by those that sent the last half of the term. 

My school house was a log one about twenty by 
twenty-four, with large wooden desks, large enough 
for six or eight to sit at a desk, and a small black- 
board, hardly large enough for one to work at. 
They told me before I commenced teaching that it 
was one of the hardest schools in the county to 
manage. I commenced my school about the first 
of 12th month, 1859. I recollect as I went to school 
the first morning, with the blues to some extent, 
there were some very rude boys, or nearly young 
men, who were reported to be very rude and hard to 
manage. I went to work, laid down my rules 
plain, so that all could understand them, with the 
firm determination on my part to keep every one 
just to that line. There was one young man who 
thought he would try me and see how things went ; 
I stopped everything and brought him back. There 
was another young man who was counted the ring- 
leader in meanftess ; he attended a Methodist pro- 
tracted meeting at old Antioch meeting-house, a 
mile or so east of the school house ; he became con- 
victed, was converted, and after this was one of the 
best boys I ever saw in a school room. While he 
was a lion before he was converted he was like a 
lamb now, kind and gentle. I was not a professor 
at this time, but I thought that there must be some 
reality in religion. After this my school passed 
along very nice and quietly. This young man 
became a Methodist preacher and is now in north- 



10 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

era Missouri preaching, if he is living. I hope that 
he and I may meet again where parting is no more. 

The law then was that there were three exami- 
ners : one in each end of the county and one at the 
county seat. After I had taught about one month, 
I walked twelve miles to Jerome, a little town they 
examined in, in those days, whenever an applicant 
came. I got to his house about noon ; they were 
eating dinner, and he would have me eat with them. 
After dinner he began to ask me some questions 
orally ; in about one hour he gave me a certificate 
for one year. I felt real proud, as I trudged along 
home in the snow. 

There was one man that sent eight children to 
school until he thought the term was half out, then 
he kept them all at home ; the rest of the patrons 
sent on until the term closed. He was afraid that 
he would have to pay out some money, but when 
school closed it was found that there was money 
enough to pay the full time. I think I never saw a 
man hate anything so much as he did that he had 
now lost so much, and his children needed the 
schooling so much at this time. His children were 
learning very fast. I had forty-seven pupils en- 
rolled, I think. It was during this term, a very cold 
winter, that we had great times playing ball. The 
school house was on the south edge of some timber. 
There was one little girl that attended this school 
whom I met several years after, one evening as I 
was returning home from school ; she and her hus- 
band stopped me to enquire the way. After a few 
moments she said to me, " Is not your name Hub- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 11 



bard? " I said, yes. She then said she was satis- 
fied it was now. She had grown up, and was not 
the little girl that she was at my school, and I knew 
her not when she spoke to me. We had an exami- 
nation and also an exhibition ; the patrons were well 
satisfied with my labors as a teacher. How my 
heart was knit to those pupils in love. 

CURIOUS DERIVATIONS. 

The word " pamphlet" is derived from the name 
of a Greek authoress, Pamphylia, who compiled the 
history of the world into thirty-five little books. 
"Punch and Judy" is a contraction from Pontius 
and Judas. It is a relic of an old " miracle play," 
in which the actors were Pontius Pilate and Judas 
Iscariot. "Bigot " is from Visigotha, in which the 
fierce and intolerant Arianism of the Visigoth con- 
querors of Spain has been handed down to infamy, 
From Hamburg we get "humbug"; a "piece of 
Hamburg news " was in Germany a proverbial ex- 
pression of false political rumors. " Gauze " derives 
its name from Gaza, where it was first made. "Tabby 
cat" is all unconscious that her name is derived 
from Atab, a famous street in Bagdad inhabited by 
the manufacturers of silken stuffs called atabi, or 
taffety, the wavy markings of the watered silks re- 
sembling pussy's coat. "Old Scratch " is the demon 
Skratti, who still survives in the superstitions of 
northern Europe. " Old Nick " is none other than 
Nikr, the dangerous water demon of Scandinavian 
legend. The lemon takes its name from the city of 
Lima. 



12 A TEACHBE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

SCIENTIFIC. 

Chemical analysis discloses the fact that among 
the many articles used for food, there are only two, 
wheat and milk, which contain all the elements of 
the human body, and in the proper proportions. 
Other articles, such as butter, sugar, syrup, and fat 
of all kinds, are wholly carbonaceous, or heat pro- 
ducing, so that if a human being were to attempt to 
live on these articles alone, his brain and muscles 
would starve. By actual experiment, it has been 
found that a man could not survive two months on 
such a diet. 

My fourth school was taught the summer of 1860 
at Xenia, Miami county, Indiana — a subscription 
school. I taught in a large room up stairs in the 
Addington building, called by some "Noah's Ark." 
My school room was about sixty feet long and 
twenty-one feet wide. I had sixty-five pupils en- 
rolled, and about forty nearly of one size. The same 
young man who was converted during my last 
school, attended this summer. He was mild and 
gentle as a little child. The pupils were in the habit 
of talking just about as they pleased. I got tired of 
that kind of work, and I told them that it must be 
stopped. The same day that I told them this, I 
whipped seventeen ; this came very near stopping it 
altogether. One day as I was passing down one of 
the aisles I heard some whispering ; I turned around 
and discovered that it was a young woman talking 
io some one. Said I, '"'Here! come and stand up 
here on the floor." She got very mad, but I told 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 13 

her to move. She got up and came out, but at noon 
she went home. I verily thought that if the little 
,ones had to mind, so should the older ones also. 
/ We had some old wooden desks that made a terrible 
: racket when the scholars moved from -their seats. 
My wife assisted me during this term. There was 
one little boy that was always full of fun, and, to 
use a common expression "as sharp as a brier." 
Mont. Frazier was his name. He always told every- 
thing that happened at home ; if he did not get to 
school in time to tell it before school commenced, 
he would watch his chance and tell it afterward. 
One morning he came late ; his class was reciting 
on the charts. He spelled "jumps" and called it 
calf. My wife told him he knew that it did not 
spell that. He looked up at her very innocently 
and said, "Well, our cow's got a calf, anyhow." He 
knew he could make her laugh. He went home at 
night and told his mother how he had made Mrs. 
Hubbard laugh. He said, "I can make her laugh, 
anyway." His mother told him that Mrs. Hubbard 
would whip him. " I ain't afraid of her." " Well," 
said she, "Mr. Hubbard will, you know." 

It was a very pleasant place to teach ; pleasant 
on account of being the second story. We had a 
good breeze most of the time. This, was a very 
pleasant town to teach school in.|I had always 
heard it said that it was harder to Teach in towns 
than in the country, but I could not see any differ- 
ence. My school passed along very nicely. My 
pupils all took an interest in their studies ; at the 
close of the term we had an exhibition ; we had a 



14 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

nice time, and closed with good feeling among all, 
long to be remembered by all of us. 

About this time the schools began 
To slack the use of the rattan ; 
They said " 0, no, it will not do, 
To use the rod on children so." 

Parents have ceased to remonstrate, 
So children begin to demonstrate; 
And teachers try with various plans — 
Coax, plead, entreat, and keep off hands. 

Some teachers fall into the way _ m0S * 
Of letting the children sleep and play.* 

■ 



ALPHABETICAL RHYMES. 



■ ..„ 



A's for Augusta, the capital of Maine, 

B is for Bello, a city of Spain, 

C stands for Carthage, for glory renowned, 

D is for Dublin, where Paddies abound, 

E stands for Edinburg, in Scotland so high, 

P is for Florence, that in Italy doth lie, 

G's for Geneva, where watches are made, 

H stands for Havre, famous for trade, 

I is for Ispahan, noted for age, 

J stands for Jerusalem, where wars did rage, 

K is for Kingston, a fortified place, 

L's for London, the head of our race, 

M is for Mexico, great in the past, 

N's for New York, though not first is not last, 

O's for Ontario, some people's home, 

P stands for Pompeii, in Italy well known, 

Q's for Quebec, Avhere Montcalm was laid low, 

E is for Richmond, a nice place, I know, 

S is for Sheffield, where sharp knives are made, 

T stands for Troy, where great Hector slayed, 

U is for Utrecht, where a great treaty was signed, 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 15 



Y's for Versailles, famous for wine, 

W is for Windsor, a place of some fame, 

X stands for Xerses, a small town in Spain, 

Y is for York, with its spires so tall, 

Z stands for Zurich, the last of them all. 

My fifth school was taught the winter of 1860-'61, 
at Xenia, in Miami county, Indiana, with a man 
by the name of Eli Wall. He was an old man, and 
taught school a great many years. We taught in 
the Methodist meeting house, as the district had no 
school house. He and I started one very cold morn- 
ing to Peru to be examined. It was about eighteen 
miles ; we took one horse along, and rode it time 
about. We reached there about two o'clock; Eli 
went to put up his horse, and I went into the exami- 
ner's office to see him. They had no stated times 
to examine. When I went into the room where he 
was, (he was a lawyer), he was very busy writing. 
I told him my business ; he just kept on writing. 
Said he : ''Tell me what will be the interest on one 
hundred dollars for twelve days, at six per cent." 
He told me to work it mentally. After I had got 
that done, he asked me the capitals of several States, 
and some more questions. In a few moments he 
handed me a certificate for two years. Eftmger was 
the examiner's name. When Eli came in I intro- 
duced him to the examiner. Said he: "Mr Wall, 
tell me, if you please, what the capital of Kentucky 
is." The old man was not expecting him to com- 
mence so soon, and he could not nor did not answer 
the question at all. He turned around to me and 
said: " Well, Jerry, I just cannot tell what it is." 



16 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



I have never seen a man so completely nonplussed 
in my life ; he would look first one way and then 
another, and oh ! how he did chew his tobacco ! 
The examiner finally answered it for him. He then 
asked him a few more questions, and gave him a 
certificate for eighteen months. Eli then turned to 
me and said: "Now, I reckon he will take you 
through a course." "No," said I, "here is my 
license," He seemed very much astonished, and 
wanted to know when I was examined. I told him 
while he was putting up his horse. We paid him 
fifty cents apiece, and started back for home. This 
was a sample of how they used to take us fellows 
through. 

We commenced our school about the first of 12th 
month, 1860. It was a large house, seated for meet- 
ing purposes. The first morning of school, Eli pro- 
posed that we divide the school. "Very well," said 
I, " make the choice, you are older than I am." He 
concluded to take the boys, as he thought he could 
manage them better than the girls. Said I : " I am 
satisfied with that," and so we went to work. We 
had about one hundred pupils. Eli soon found that 
he had a bad bargain on his hands, as the girls 
were no trouble much to manage. His plan was to 
let every one whisper as much as they pleased ; if 
they wished to go out of doors, just go out, one, 
three, or half a dozen. I was often diverted at him ; 
he would sometimes get a little bothered with an 
example, and he would chew tobacco and spit a ring 
around him. Several of the young men also used 
tobacco, and would spit all about over the floor. I 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 17 

used tobacco also at this time, but I got so disgusted 
with that way of doing that I decided to quit the use 
of the weed, because I knew I could not say any- 
thing to them while I used it ; and I did quit, and 
have not used any from that day to this. And when 
men tell me that they cannot quit using tobacco, I 
know that men can, if they will only decide and 
make up their minds to it. Oh, how many young 
men are ruining themselves by the inveterate use of 
tobacco. Instead of its making them look smart, it 
looks very small to every sensible person. 

It was during this school that I began to study 
people by looking them in the eyes. I have also 
learned that person's eyes always tell the truth, 
and that person's lips will tell untruths. I also 
began at this school to read what people were say- 
ing by the movements of the lips. I noticed two 
small girls on the back seat talking ; after watching 
them a little while, I was satisfied what they were 
talking about. I went to them and asked them if 
they did not say so and so. " Yes," they said, " but 
how did you know what it was we said? " I told 
them, and they were very careful after that what 
they said. Teachers may often learn many things 
that way — not as eaves- droppers, but for the benefit 
of their schools. 

Our school progressed along very nicely. On 

Christmas morning early the large boys were at the 

school house, and had the house all fastened up. 

Eli came over to my house and said he guessed we 

were fastened out. We went up to the house ; Eli 

went up to the door and shook it pretty hard, and 
2 



18 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

told them to let him in ; but they would not, unless 
we would treat them. We had a little consultation, 
and decided to send a couple of boys after a couple 
of bushels of apples. They then let us in, and we 
went to work. They brought the apples, we passed 
them around among them, they ate and enjoyed 
themselves very well. Children never learn any- 
thing on Christmas or New Year's days, and I think 
the plan of closing schools on those days a very good 
one. Our school got along very well, and at the 
close of the term we had an exhibition at night to 
very good satisfaction. There were a great many 
people in attendance. We also had a very good 
examination in the various studies ; there were 
many of the patrons in to hear their children's ex- 
ercises. 

"school's out." 

Eeader, did you ever pause and contemplate that 
particular and peculiar phase of human nature de- 
veloped by the existent school boy, when released 
from study and discipline? when "school is out," 
and he is on his way home ? Ordinary humanity, 
when released from the toils of the day, is prone to 
seek rest and relaxation. The boy scorns all such 
effeminate ideas. He is composed of but three parts 
— legs, arms and yell ; and the yell is the biggest 
part of him. His legs and arms have been kept in 
irksome compulsory quietude all day, and must now 
be exercised. His voice has been seething and 
swelling in him for hours, and now must have vent. 
As soon as he is clear of the school house steps he 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 19 

stops and deliberately yells a yell that is ear-split- 
ting, but which has no more object, aim, meaning 
or direction than the midnight vociferation of a 
mule ; and yet he appears at a full run, with his 
arms flying about like the scintillations of a pin 
wheel. He is no respecter of persons, and is utterly 
indifferent as to whether he runs down a smaller 
boy, spins an aged citizen three times around, or 
mashes a girl's hat over her eyes, in his headlong- 
career. Nervous ladies hug the sides of the houses 
as he rushes by like a whirlwind, and screams 
like a steam whistle. "Mercy on us! If that 
boy was only mine, I'd — " but just then her 
own boy fries past, falls over a dry goods box, bounces 
up, kicks at another boy, and is chased across the 
street and around the corner before she can get the 
"you Robert ! " with which she intends to annihilate 
him, out of her astonished throat. 

There is but one thing that has the slightest 
soothing effect on the boy, when he is on his way 
home from school. He can see his "old man" 
further than Prof. Hall can see a haystack with a 
telescope, and the moment that parent dawns upon 
his vision he becomes as proper as a model letter 
writer ; and the neatly modulated voice with which 
he wheedles the author of his being out of five cents 
on the spot, is a lesson for future ambitious savings' 
banks and passenger railway presidents. 

The amount of racing, jumping, pulling, haul- 
ing and howling that a schoolboy can concentrate 
into a transit of two squares, is positively astonish- 
ing; and the preternatural coolness and quietude 



20 A TEACHER'S UPS AND' DOWNS. 

with which he takes his red face and panting breath 
into the kitchen, and asks if supper ain't most 
ready, is a human conundrum that calls for unqual- 
ified admiration. 

READING ALOUD. 

"It is a sorrowful thought with many of our 
teachers that the subject of reading aloud is very 
much waning in our public schools of this day. 
There is no better way of fixing the pupil's mind on 
what he reads than reading aloud. A person can 
not read anything aloud well, with proper inflection 
and emphasis, without thoroughly understanding it. 
A pupil cannot scramble through and skip over, 
what he knows that he is likely to be called upon to 
read aloud. It is among the very best of educa- 
tional disciplines. Besides this, with a competent 
teacher, it is, I need hardly say, the very best 
means of acquiring that clear enunciation which is 
one of the greatest beauties of speech, and which 
any observant person will find largely lacking in the 
younger people of the present day. Good English 
speaking and good English writing are produced, ex- 
cept in cases of rare inborn faculty, chiefly by the 
reading aloud of good English authors, under the- 
supervision of a teacher who himself or herself 
speaks good English and understands the authors." 

THE SEVEN WISE MEN. 

Most people have heard of the "Seven Wise Men 
of Greece," but very few know who they were or how 
they came to be called so. Here is the story, and 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 21 

the moral of it is worth remembering, if their names 
are not. The seven wise men of Greece are sup- 
posed to have lived in the fifth century before Christ. 
Their names : Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Thales, Chilo, 
Cleobulus, and Periander. The reason of their being- 
called wise is given differently by different authors ; 
but the most approved accounts state that as some 
Coans were fishing, some strangers from Melicus 
bought whatever should be in the nets without seeing 
it. When the nets were brought in they were found 
to contain a golden tripod, which Helen is supposed 
to have thrown in there. A dispute arose between 
the fishermen and the strangers as to whom it be- 
longed ; and, as they could not agree, they took it to 
the temple of Apollo, and consulted the priestess as 
to what should be done with it. She said it must 
be given to the wisest man in Greece, and it was 
accordingly sent to Bias, who declared that Thales 
was wiser, and sent it to him. Thales sent it to 
another one, and so on, until it had passed through 
the hands of the men distinguished afterwards as 
the " Seven Wise Men" ; and as each one claimed 
that the other was wiser than he, it was finally sent 
to the temple of Apollo, where it long remained to 
teach the lesson that the wisest are the most dis- 
trustful of their wisdom. 

Faith relies upon the truth of what God hath 
promised, and Hope waits for the enjoyment of the 
good in the promise, but more especially for the 
glory which is to be revealed. This hope of glory 
is full of rejoicing, because everything which Hope 



22 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

looks at and draws its joy from, depends on the 
truth and faithfulness of a covenant God. There 
can be no failing on His part, and therefore on the 
believer's there can be no disappointment. 

And the darkest hour, as the proverb goes, 
Is the hour before the dawning. 

PRONUNCIATIONS. 

Speak your words distinctly. Always sound t at 
the end of words : as rest, lest ; it has an unculti- 
vated sound to say res or les. Don't run all your 
words together, or mumble them. Don't pronounce 
arithmetic "arethmetic," or "rithmetic," but as it 
is spelled. Say asparagus, not "sparrogruss." 
Auxiliary has five syllables, with the accent on the 
second ; do not say " aux-ilary " but " aux-il-ya-ry." 
Camelopard should be accented on the second syl- 
lable ; the word is not " camel-leopard." Contrary, 
accent on the first syllable. 

l The fall of 1862 I moved with my family to 
New London, Howard County, Indiana, and assist- 
ed my brother, Woodson Hubbard, in a school in 
the fall and winter of 1862 and 1863 ; we taught in 
the public school house. We had about one hun- 
dred pupils enrolled ; several pupils had to sit at a 
desk — they were the old wooden ones. 

The school house stood north and south, one 
door in each end of the house, four windows on a 
side, and one large wood stove. When we got all 
the pupils in school the house was nearly filled up. 
With such desks in a school building it is a thing 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 23 

impossible for a teacher or teachers to keep as good 
order as ought to be kept. 

There was one young woman who attended this 
school that was as lively as a cricket, always full of 
fun, and her voice could be heard above all the rest 
of the scholars at play time, and she was ready for 
all kinds of play that pupils played at school. It 
did not seem as though she was one of those per- 
sons that would ever see any trouble in this world. 
But how little do we know of the trials and troubles 
that are in our journey through life. Some of those 
persons that one would think would have no troubles 
have the most of them. It did not seem possible 
that in a few short years her life would be so 
changed, but alas ! how soon are the hopes and 
aspirations all blasted. She married, and like 
many others made a bad choice, so far as geniality 
was concerned, and instead of them being alike in 
their opinions and sources of enjoyment were much 
the contrary the one to the other. In a few short 
years I met her and she was not that gay and hap- 
py girl that she was a few years ago. 

The case of this young woman has often been 
before the view of my mind when I behold and see 
young people in the prime of life starting out in the 
world all life and gayety. In my experience as a 
teacher I have seen a few with almost as much 
contrast as the one I have alluded to. I always 
feel a sympathy for such persons and especially 
those who have attended my school ; they seem to- 
be nearer to me in sympathy and love than others ; 
they seem more as though they were my children. 



24 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

Since my last school the Lord had pardoned my 
sins and now I felt that I could talk to the children. 
I never could before this in my teaching talk to my 
pupils of the love of God. Now it seemed a pleasure 
to me to explain many beautiful lessons that we 
read in our school books. It seemed more of a 
pleasure now to teach than ever before, and when 
children are small then is the time to impress them 
with useful lessons. I have thought of latter years 
that school teachers were as much if not more ac- 
countable than ministers of the Gospel, because the 
little minds receive impressions and they never 
leave them. 

Our school progressed along finely ; it averaged 
about eighty. This was my sixth term of school. 
How true is the maxim that, "as the twig is bent 
the tree is inclined." 

How swift the tide of life runs out, 

As years increase in numbers, 
That we should all be about, 

Before we lay in death's cold slumbers. 

Our school closed to good satisfaction. 

ISAAC NEWTON. 

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the wisest and best 
men that England ever produced. He was born at 
Woolsthorpe, near Grantham, Lincolnshire. At 
twelve years of age he was placed by his mother in 
the Grammar school at Grantham, where at first 
he was very inattentive, but afterwards rose to the 
head of the school. The time which other boys 
spent in play Isaac occupied in making various 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



25 



machines and contrivances, in which he showed 
great skill. He made sun dials and tried various 
experiments in science. At fifteen years of age he 
went home again, as it was intended to make him a 
farmer ; but instead of looking after sheep and cat- 
tle, Isaac spent his time in reading and studying. 
Being found by his uncle working out a mathemat- 
ical problem under a hedge, he was wisely sent back 
to school, and then to Cambridge, where he made 
those great discoveries which have rendered his 
name so famous. He used to say that he made 
them by " patient thinking. " Let this be the lesson 
we learn from Sir Isaac Newton: patient thinking 
is the road to knowledge. 

FRETTING. 

It is a great misfortune to have a fretful dispo- 
sition; it takes the fragrance out of one's life, and 
leaves only weeds, where a cheerful disposition 
would cause flowers to bloom . The habit of fretting 
is one that grows rapidly unless it be sternly re- 
pressed ; and the best way to overcome it is to try 
always to look on the cheerful side of things. 
" Mind not high things." 
FLOWERS. 

" The flowers are blooming everywhere— 

On every hill and dell; 
And, oh, how beautiful they are ! 

How sweetly, too, they smell ! 

" The little birds they spring along, 

And look so glad and gay! 
I love to hear their pleasant song: 

I feel as glad as they. 



26 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

" The young lambs bleat, and frisk about; 

The bees hum 'round their hive; 
The butterflies are coming out: 

'Tis good to be alive ! 

" The trees that looked so stiff and gray, 
With green wreaths now are hung. 

0, mother! let me laugh and play: 
I cannot hold my tongue." 

" Go forth, my child, and laugh and play, 

And let your cheerful voice 
With birds and brooks and merry May 

Cry out, rejoice! rejoice! 

"I would not check your bounding mirth, 

My happy little boy; 
For He who made this blooming earth — 

Smiles on an infant's joy." 

"going to school." 

Do those people who are sighing for a departure 
from the present school system realize what results 
might follow? I think not. I don't believe they 
are prepared for the awful consequences which would 
follow a departure from the monotony of text 
books and stereotyped class examinations. They 
must know that the moment you treat a pupil in 
school hours as if he was not a prisoner, he will at 
once kick up a rebellion and forget his books. 

Children are sent to school to learn ; we all know 
that. Certain eminent men have been called upon 
or have called upon themselves to compile geogra- 
phies, arithmetics, spelling books, readers, etc., for 
instruction of children. It follows, as a matter of 
necessity, that pupils have no business to learn any 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 



thing except from these books ; if a teacher should 
take it into her head to explain to the pupils the 
difference between poetry and blank verse, or ex- 
plain any interesting question in natural history, 
she should be severely reproved, because none of 
the school books refer to such things. 

The other day I met a bit of a girl going to 
school with tears in her eyes and Saunders' new 
spelling book in her hand. She could spell, but 
Saunders had told her, and her teacher had cau- 
tioned her to commit to memory the fact : " Words; 
are either primitive, derivative, simple or com- 
pound." The child didn't know whether the word 
" primitive " meant twin hitching-posts or a fire- 
alarm, and when I asked her the meaning of the 
word " compound," she looked from an apple-ped- 
dler's wagon to a lamp post and back, as if the 
significance of the word hovered between the two. 
I didn't explain, or assist her, of course. Because 
Saunders put that sentence in his speller, it follows 
that pupils must learn it, even though their teach- 
ers could not write it down and spell half the words 
correctly. That same little girl, hardly ten years 
of age, must learn from the same book that " in- 
dorser is one who indorses," and that " appellor is 
one who makes an appeal," and while she may learn 
the words by heart, she will know their meaning 
just about as much as her teacher knows why Lake 
Michigan is longer than it is broad. 

Around the corner they buried a fourteen-year-old 
boy the other day. He didn't die of scarlet fever 
or any other pronounced disease, in fact the doctor 



28 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



never made up his mind what to call it. The boy 
became pale, haggard and thin, suffered much with 
his head, and in his last hours he talked wildly and 
strangely. "He was such a good boy, and he stud- 
ied so hard," wept his mother, and I took a look at 
the dead boy's school books. He had been studying 
mathematics, history, orthography, writing, natural 
philosophy, and two or three other books, and when 
his mother "came to remember," she recalled that 
his lessons kept him at his books from breakfast 
until nine o'clock in the evening, and that she had 
sometimes caught him working mathematical ex- 
amples on the Sabbath, in order to be perfect on 
Monday. 

I soon found where he left off in his arithmetic. 
It was an example reading as follows : "If A has 
ten oxen which weigh 800 pounds each, and B has 
fourteen mules which weigh four times as much, 
and one-third of the mules fall into a mud hole and 
four of the oxen loose their left ears, what will be 
the state of the weather next week ? " I do not say 
that this example killed the boy ; if it did, all right ; 
it was there to be learned, and he must either learn 
it or die. Just imagine how utterly unfit that boy 
would have been for society and business circles 
without being able to solve such problems off-hand. 

I was talking with a school teacher the other 
day, who will certainly come to some bad end if he 
does not change his opinions. He had the audacity 
to hold that children went to school not as prisoners, 
but as pupils, the social equals of the teacher, but 
obeying orders because realizing that discipline ad- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 29 

vances the interests of all. He held that it mat- 
tered not how the pupil learned that Michigan was 
bounded on the south by Ohio and Indiana, so long 
as they came to a distinct knowledge of the fact, 
and he therefore said to his young class in geo- 
graphy : ' ' Now, children, the President of the 
United States used to live in Ohio, and Senator 
Morton, now dead, lived in Indiana. Tell me in 
what direction those two states lie from Michigan." 
It was very wrong in him, because the pupils took 
great pleasure in hunting up the answer. No pupil 
should be allowed to search for any knowledge not 
laid down in the text books. 

This teacher sets another pernicious example : 
right in the face of the fact that there is a school 
reader containing the history of William Penn and 
the adventures of Mary's lamb, he takes a magazine 
or newspaper into his school room and says : 

" Now, children, I shall let one of you read this 
report of recent excavations at Pompeii. Before 
we read, let some one tell me where Pompeii is ? " 

"In Italy," was the answer. 

"And what happened to the city? " 

No answer, because it is not in the readers. 

"It was buried by ashes and mud from an erup- 
tion of Mt. Vesuvius, " he said, "and now where 
is that mountain ? " 

"In Italy." 

"Correct, and it again shows signs of an erup- 
tion. We will now read." 

In half an hour not one class only, but the whole 
school has learned geography, history, natural phil- 



30 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

osophy, and something of art, in one lesson, and 
each pupil goes home to relate what was read, to 
discuss it, and perhaps to learn new facts. What 
is to become of our children if we permit such 
teaching ? 

UThe winter of 1863-'64 I taught school at a school 
house commonly known as the "Black Hill School 
House," situated two and one-half miles east of New 
London, Howard county, Indiana. I commenced 
about the first of 12th month, 1863 ; a small frame 
house, standing east and west, with three windows 
on each side of it ; small blackboard on the west 
end ; large wooden desks, large enough for four or 
five to a desk. There were about fifty pupils en- 
rolled during tne term, some of them so very wild 
and rude as to require a great amount of watching, 
and if I left them for a moment-at noon or at recess 
there was sure to be a muss. But they were like 
many horses, if you only kept a" tight rein on them 
they were all right. There are most generally in all 
schools some boys who want to domineer over the 
rest of the scholars. 

I went to Kokomo to be examined. The exami- 
ner put all those that wished to be examined in a 
large school room ; we worked away until noon. 
The examiner went to his dinner and left us, and we 
then went to work to help each other. Three of us 
got together ; one was good in arithmetic, another 
in grammar, and I was leader in geography. Thus 
we helped each other through. About half past one 
the examiner returned; a portion of the teachers 
were not yet through with their work. This was my 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 31 

seventh term of school. We passed up our papers 
by turns ; he looked over our work, and said that 
we had done good work. I received an eighteen 
months' license. They were not as particular then 
as now. 

Several of my pupils who attended school that 
winter have gone to their long homes. There was 
one young man by the name of Samuel Neal, who 
was very wild and unruly. In a few years from 
that time the fell destroyer, consumption, claimed 
him as its victim. I was with him a day or two 
before he passed away ; he had become converted 
and was now happy in a Savior's love. We had a 
meeting at his father's large barn ; a few minutes 
before meeting broke, he signified that he wanted to 
talk to the people some. Old father Thorn stood by 
him and talked for him. He said that he wanted all 
who were there to meet him in glory ; that all was 
clear with him. It seemed that while he was once 
as a lion he was now like a lamb. His evidence was 
as bright as any person's I have ever seen ; there 
was no mist there. There are but few of the pupils 
who attended that school during that winter now 
living ; nearly all are gone. 

This was a very pleasant winter up to New Year's 
eve, when it began to snow and blow some from the 
northwest. New Year's morning, 1864, was the 
coldest morning that I have ever witnessed in my 
life. I went to school that morning, but found only 
four or five of the larger boys there. We staid 
there awhile, and as we would freeze on one side we 
were burning on the other. Said I : " Boys, let us 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 



go home." "Agreed," said they, and so we started. 
I had to go facing the cold northwester ; it seemed 
as though I would surely freeze. I stopped at my 
father's ; my eyes were nearly frozen shut, and if I 
had gone on I expect I would have frozen to death. 
My school passed along very nicely ; all were well 
pleased with my labors, feeling that I had done my 
duty to the best of my judgment. 

WHAT SHALL WE EAT. 

Here are some of .the articles of food, showing 
the amount of nutriment contained and the time 
required for digestion : 

Time of digestion. Ain't of mitrim't 

Apples raw 1 h 50 m 10 per cent 

Beans , 2 h 30 m 37 per cent 

Beef, roasted . S h 30' m 26 per cent 

Beans, baked 3 h 30 m 60 per cent 

Butter 3 h 30 in 96 per cent 

Cabbage, boiled 4 h 30 in 7 per cent 

Cucumber, raw 4 h 30 m 2 per cent 

Fish, boiled 2 h 00 m 20 per cent 

Milk, fresh 2 h 15 m 7 per cent 

Mutton, roasted 3 h 15 m 30 per cent 

Pork 5 h 15 m 24 per cent 

Poultry 2 h 45 m 27 per cent 

Potatoes, boiled 2 h 30 m 13 per cent 

Kice lhOOin 38 per cent 

Sugar 3 h 30 m 96 per cent 

Turnips, boiled 2 h 30 in 4 per cent 

Veal, roasted 4 h 00 m 25 per cent 

Venison, boiled 1 h 30 m 22 per cent 

MANY FACTS IN SMALL COMPASS. 

Christianity was first preached in Britain, A. D., 
178. London was first founded A. D., 50. The first 



A TEACHEE S UPS AND DOWNS. 



crusade occurred in 1,005. The first English House 
of Commons was organized in 1205. The first burn- 
ing of heretics in England was in 1401. The num- 
ber of languages spoken is 2,065. The number of 
men is equal to the number of women. The aver- 
age of human life is about 33 years; one quarter 
die- before the age of 7. To every 1,000 persons 
one rarely reaches the age of 100 years, and not 
more than one in 500 will reach the age of 80. 
There are on earth 1,000,000,000 inhabitants. Of 
these about 33,333,333 die every year, 81,824 die 
every day, 3,789 every hour, and 60 every minute. 
The losses are balanced by an equal number of 
births. The married are longer lived than the 
single. Tall men live longer than short ones. Wo- 
men have more chances of life previous to the age 
of fifty years, but fewer after, than men. The num- 
ber of marria'ges is in proportion as 70 to 100. Mar- 
riages are more frequent after equinoxes, that is, 
during the months of June and December. Those 
born in the Spring are move robust than others. 
Births and deaths are more frequent by night than 
by day. 

HOW TO FLOAT. 

A person who will throw himself on his back in 
the water with his hands held clasped in each other 
at his back, and with his head thrown back so that 
the nose and mouth may protrude from the water, 
may float for hours, and cannot sink in that posi- 
tion. 

Truth is tough. It will not break like a bubble 



34 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

at a touch ; nay, you may kick it about all day, like 
a foot-ball, and it will be round and full in the even- 
ing. Truth gets well if run over by a locomotive, 
while error dies of lockjaw if she scratches her 
finger. 

IT IS NOT ALWAYS MAY. 



The sun is bright, the air is clear, 
The darting swallows soar and sing, 
And from the stately elms I hear 
The bluebird prophesying Spring. 

All things are new, the buds, the leaves, 
That gild the elm tree's nodding crest, 
And even the nest beneath the eaves, 
There are no birds in last year's nest. 

Maiden, that read'st this simple rhyme, 
Enjoy thy youth, it will not stay; 
Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime, 
For O, it is not always May. 



JUNE. 

No price is set on the lavish Summer, 

And June may be had by the poorest comer. 

And what is so rare as a day in June? 
Then, if ever, come perfect days; 
Then heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 
And over it softly her warm ear lays. 

Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how, 

Everything is happy now, 

'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true, 

As for grass to be green or for skies to be blue. 



A TEACHEE S UPS AND DOWNS. 



THE SCHOOL HOUSE IN THE WOODS. 
I. 
THE ROAD THAT LED TO IT. 

fwas a winding wagon way, 
Where the summer shadows lay, 
"Where the beech tree bent its head, 
Where the grass its carpet spread. 

Where the wild Sweet Williams grew. 
Where the violet's eye of blue, 
Watched the swaying of the trees, 
And the darting honey bees. 

Where the timid turtle-dove, 
Sang its plaintive song of love, 
Where the chipmunk hid himself — 
Saucy, sprightly little elf! 

Where the squirrel mocked our chase, 
Here and there, and every place — 
Swinging on the highest ti-ee, 
Chatting o'er his victory. 

A group of ragged, red-faced boys. 

Full of frolic and full of noise, 

Went this way to the school each day — 

They were sent to study— they went to play. 

They climbed the iron- wood straight and tall; 
They mocked the cat bird's querulous call; 
Some gathered the gooseberry, prickly and sour, 
And some, bouquets of the wild-wood flower. 

They braided the bark of the leather-wood, 
And whips they made, that were tough and good ; 
They fashioned guns from the elder stem, 
And with poke-berry juice they painted them ; 
They sung and shouted the live long day, 
Free from care, and full of play. 



36 A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

II. 

HOW THIS SCHOOL HOUSE LOOKED. 

A turn in the road brings full into view 
The school house itself — shall I show it to you? 
The walls are of logs, with tha.chinks mudded ore' 
The seats are of puncheons — the same as floor. 

The boards of the door have been split from a tree; 
The hinges and latch are of wood, do you see ? 
The chimney is wide, made of sticks and of clay, 
With a roaring big fire on a cold winter day. 

The writing-desk is a long,' sloping shelf — 
Each writer close watched by the master himself. 
What with cracks through the floor 
And with cracks through the wall, 
Ventilation abundant is certain to all. 

The window — just one — runs the length of one side — 
Say a dozen feet long, and a single foot wide ; 
The roof is of " shakes," broad, heavy and long, 
Held down by "weight poles," many and strong. 
You have heard of " Brush College," you see it now, 
The " master" has come, take your hats off and bow, 

III. 

THE "MASTEE." 

Big and burly the "master" stands, 

With a bundle of " water-beech" in his hands; 

For many a son of the forest to-day 

Will need to be governed, I dare say. 

He lifts the latch of the clap-board door, 
With a hickory limb he sweeps the floor; 
He heaps the fire with logs of beech, 
Till the leaping flames up the chimney reach. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 37 

He writes up the copies, or works a hard sum. 
Till the hour for " taking up school " has come, 
Then grasps the "ruler" and rattles the sash, 
Eat-a-tat rat-a-tat dash-dash-dash. 

IV. 

SCHOOL SCENES. 

Bless me, what a din and clatter ! 

What's the matter ? 

What a patter ! 
As they scatter to their seats. 

Sam and Simon, 
Luke and Lyman — 
How they climb in ! 
How they chime in 
' <How the rhyme in this repeats). 

Eeading classes — 

Lads and lasses, 
As time passes, take the floor ; 

Oh, what clamor ! 

What bad grammar ! 
How they stammer evermore. 

Then the spelling — 

Sinking, swelling, 
This one telling some hard word 

To some dear one, 

Or some queer one, 
By her love or laughter stirred 

Then the master 

Frown disaster, 
Hurries faster — closes soon, 

By that token 

Silence broken, 
One word spoken — no-o-o-o-o-on ! 



08 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



Baskets and pails with chicken or quails, 
Sausages, short cakes and so on, 
Grouped into families— fives, fours and threes — 
Hoav they eat, how they chatter, and so on 

So was the old-fashioned school of forty years 
ago. 

The winter of 1865- '66 I taught my eighth term 
of school, at Porcupine school house, two and one- 
half miles west of New London, Howard county, 
Indiana. I commenced this school under very un- 
favorable circumstances. They had had consider- 
able trouble the winter before with their teacher ; 
they had to guard him to school in the morning and 
home in the evening, for awhile before the school 
closed. Their school had a very bad name. One 
of the directors came and wanted me to teach for 
them. I told him I did not want to take their 
school. He insisted, and I at last told him that if 
they would give me fifty dollars a month I would 
undertake it. He said they would give it. I com- 
menced about the middle of 11th month, 1865. I 
remember, as I went along the road to the school 
the first morning, many were my thoughts, with the 
query continually running through my mind as to 
the best way to work. My school opened out large 
the first morning ; several young men and women 
in attendance. I gave them a short lecture before 
we commenced our work, telling them how 1 wanted 
them to do. One of my rules was, no talking at all 
only by permission, and that by simply raising the 
right hand. I always believed that just as few 
rules as possible were better than so many. All 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 39 



passed along very quietly and nicely for awhile. I 
told them that if I saw any of them talking without 
permission, I would stop everything and attend to 
that, if it was the largest scholar in the school, and 
that the penalty for talking was to stand out on the 
floor. In a few days I saw two young women talk- 
ing without permission. I watched them until I 
was fully satisfied they were talking ; then I asked 
them if they were talking " Yes," they answered. 
"Now," said I, "march right out here and stand 
on the floor." They hesitated. "Come right 
along." They came, but, oh, they were so mad. 
They stood there until I told them to sit down. It 
stopped the talking business. My rule was, that if 
a scholar was too large to whip, and refused to obey 
orders, I was done with them instanter. 

There was one young man got a young woman's 
penknife, and would not give it up to her. She 
asked him for it two or three times, and he refused. 
She then asked me to get it for her. I went to him 
and asked for the knife ; he said he would not give 
it to me. I asked him for it twice ; he refused. I 
then said that I was done with him, and would not 
hear him recite any more until he made that right. 
He stayed until school broke, and then got his 
books and went home. Next morning he was the 
first one there. He helped me build the tire and sweep 
out the house, but did not say a word in regard to 
what had happened the day before. When I took 
up school and read a portion of scripture, and 
before we went to our books, I said that there was 
one person there who was not a scholar ; if he had 



40 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

anything to say we would now hear him. He got 
up and asked me if I would forgive him for the way 
he had acted the day before. Said I, "Is thee 
sorry for what thee done ? " He said he was. Said 
I, "I will forgive thee freely if thee will not do so 
any more." He said he would do no more that way. 
"Now," said I, "ask the school also to forgive 
thee." He did so, and every one of them forgave 
him. "Now," said I, "let us stop this thing right 
here, and no one of us speak of this occurrence here 
any more." Everything again started off nice and 
smooth. 

We had several very satisfactory spelling schools, 
which were generally well attended. J There was 
one young woman attended this school that was an 
exception of a young lady ; she always had her les- 
sons well and recited well. Mollie Maus was her 
name. She has been married and settled in life 
for several years. Hoping that her life may be 
adorned with usefulness and happiness. 

On Christmas day I was invited to a big dinner 
at Peter Maus' and had a nice time. Our school 
this winter gave Porcupine a new name. We had 
a splendid school, and the pupils and patrons were 
all warmly attached to me. On the last day of 
school many people attended. The parents wit- 
nessed the examination of the classes with much in- 
terest and attention. They were all well pleased 
with my labors. At night we had an exhibition, 
comprising near one hundred exercises ; but were 
compelled by the lateness of the hour to desist when 
we had listened to but sixty-five. There were two 



A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 41 



young women by the name of Loomis, very intelli- 
gent and amiable, who attended. We did not know 
how strongly we were attached to each other until 
we came to part that night, many of the pupils 
coming and bidding me farewell with tears stream- 
ing down their faces. I have always felt from that 
day to this that sweet are the memories that cluster 
around old Porcupine. Many of those pupils have 
passed away and gone, I hope to that better world, 
" where the wicked ceaSe from troubling, and the 
weary are at rest." There are but few of those 
with whom we parted that evening who are now in 
the land of the living, and those who still remain 
are not the boys and girls they then were, but men 
and women — actors in the great drama of life. Oh 
may we all 

" So live that when thy summons comes 
To join the innumerable caravan 
Where each shall take up his abode 
In the silent halls of death, thou go, 
Not as a slave, scourged to his dungeon, 
But, soothed and sustained by an unfaltering trust, 
Approach thy grave like one who wraps 
The drapery of his couch about him, 
And lies down to pleasant dreams." 

Among the patrons of this school were William 
Stout, Samuel J. Schooley, and Isaac Gordon, sr. 
I felt when I went home from our exhibition that 
last evening, that Porcupine was a good place. 

how arduous are the labors of the school 
teacher ! with his mind taxed from "day to day, 
many are the cares and earnest anxieties of the de _ 



42 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

voted teacher. How slowly the teacher wears his 
life away in the cause ; there is no show or great 
noise as the teacher moves along day by day ; their 
fame is not heralded like that of the warrior, but oh, 
how sweet the thought that we have tried to do our 
duty in training the little ones in the path of right. 

WHAT IT DID. 

The word that changes a bad man's life is gen- 
erally a surprise, whether it comes in an ordinary 
or extraordinary way. God is always behind the 
"accident" that startles a sleeping conscience. 

Many years ago a wealthy Virginia gentleman 
set out in his carriage for the city of Eichmond, to 
attend a grand horse- race — a regular Old Domin- 
ion Derby day. He was a man of pleasure, without 
any religious training, brought up to a life of idle- 
ness and self-indulgence, supporting his wealth on 
the labor of his slaves, and employing his time 
chiefly in horse racing, cock fighting, and the va- 
riety of in-door gambling then fashionable among 
men of his class. He had entered three trained 
horses for the Eichmond races, and expected to win 
largely on them. But the journey to the capital 
was a long one, and having no company but his 
black driver, he grew lonesome and restless. Pass- 
ing a country store he stopped and inquired of the 
proprietor if he had any novels to sell. 

"Novels, what are they?" said the ignorant 
shop-keeper. 

"Why, books, of course." 
"I have no books but spelling-books and Bibles." 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 43 

The man of pleasure was disgusted. But any- 
thing was better than the torture of his languid 
spirits. He must divert his mind. 

"I can't read a spelling-book," he said, laugh- 
ing. "Give me a Bible." And with the sacred 
volume in his hand, he rode on, reading. He had 
never read the Bible before. By and by he flung 
the book down angrily, muttering to himself, " That's 
the biggest lie ever printed ! " 

He soon, however, found that reading was bet- 
ter than thinking, and took up the book and began 
again. He continued to read till he reached the 
city; he read in his hotel room till supper, and 
after supper till bed time, and rose early in the 
morning and read till breakfast. Then he went to 
the race-grounds, withdrew his horses, paid his for- 
feit, summoned his hostlers and driver, and started 
for home. Arrived there, he burned his cards and 
all his gaming apparatus, killed his game-cocks to 
make a supper for his servants, and calling his 
family around him that night, set up an altar to 
the Lord in his household that was never after- 
wards broken down. 

From that time his zeal in acts of faith and 
deeds of piety was as remarkable as his devotion to 
sinful pleasures had been. He built a church on 
his plantation, and often took active part in its 
Sabbath and evening services, exhorting others to 
the peace of God which had blessed his own soul. 
His death after years of usefulness, was one of joy 
and triumph. He had a son, on whom his later 
example made salutary impressions, and to whom 



44 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

the brightness of his last moments was like a gleam 
of heaven. That son became known in history as 
Chief Justice Buffin, of Virginia. 

As is this case that I have just narrated so it is 
with many others — sometimes a word or a song 
has been the means of saving a person. I knew a 
woman once that was started heavenward by some 
of us singing that good old song, 

" Neighbors, seek a home in heaven, 
For you didn't come here to stay always," etc. 

When we sung those words she broke down, and 
•she said that was what moved her. 

LAUGHTEE. 

What a capital, kindly, honest, jolly, glorious 
thing is a laugh ! What a tonic ! What an exor- 
ciser of evil spirits ! How it shuts the mouth of 
malice and opens the brows of kindness. Like a 
" thing of beauty," it is a "joy forever." There is 
no remorse in it. It leaves no sting except in the 
sides, and that soon goes off. It is more infectious 
than scarlet fever. The convulsion is propagated 
like sound; if there is laughter and one witness, 
forthwith there are two laughters. What a thing it 
is when it becomes epidemic ! 

Laughter! 'tis the poor man's plaster, 
Covering up each sad disaster. 
Laughing, he forgets his troubles, 
Which, though real, seem but bubbles. 
Laughter! whether loud or mute, 
Tells the human kind from brute. 
Laughter! 'tis hope's living voice 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 45 

Bidding us to make a choice, 

And to cull from thorny bowers, 

Leaving thorns and taking flowers. 

Laughing is what all enjoy, 

Making up for all alloy. 

Laughing takes the load away 

And leaves the heart as merry as May. 

Laughter is the fun of all, 

Making merry great and small. 

Laughter moves the clouds apart, 

It helps us each to make a start. 

CONUNDRUMS. 

What occupation is the sun ? A tanner. 

What did Adam first plant in the garden of 
Eden? His foot 

What is the longest word in the English lan- 
guage ? S-mile-s. 

What roof covers the most noisy tenant ? The 
roof of the mouth. 

What is the largest room in the world? The 
room for improvement. 

For what purpose was Eve made ? For Adams 7 
Express Company. 

When does a man keep his word? When no 
one will take it. 

Why is a parish like a good story ? Because it 
is often told, (tolled.) 

Why was Noah never hungry in the ark ? Be- 
cause he always had Ham with him. 

Why are bookkeepers like chickens ? Because 
they have to scratch for a living. 

What part of a locomotive ought to be handled 
the most carefully? The tender part. 



46 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

Why is the capital of China like a man looking 
through a key-hole ? It is pekin', (Peeking.) 

From what motive does the fishman blow his 
horn in market ? From a selfish motive, (sell fish.) 

One of the most useful trees in the world is found 
in most parts or countries, yet has neither leaf nor 
flower on it. What is it? Axletree. 

MY FIRST GOING TO SCHOOL. 

I recollect the first morning that I ever went to 
school. It was about thirty-seven years ago, yet it 
is just as bright and vivid in my mind as though it 
was yesterday. Years have passed by ; trials have 
come and gone, and been forgotten ; but my first 
morning at school will never be forgotten as long as 
reason holds her sway. 

It was a morn in the early autumn, just as the 
sun was peeping over the eastern tree tops, that the 
teacher and my two older sisters, with our dinners, 
started for the old school house. My father had 
bought me a primmer — yellow back, with black 
letters on the back of it. We started, taking the 
old road that led through the woods. I ran along 
before the rest, because I knew that there were some 
black haws that were ripe. I got some and brought 
them to the teacher and my sisters. I will never 
forget the smile the teacher gave me when I pre- 
sented her the haws. Oh, how often might teachers 
do a great amount of good, when a little girl or boy 
brings them something, by receiving it with a smile. 
It will leave its imprint there that time will not 
efface. That teacher got my love, my affections, 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 47 

from that moment, although just a little boy of 
some five summers old. We went on to the school 
house. I thought the day very long, sitting there 
on a slab with my feet about ten inches from the 
floor ; compelled to sit still, and get sleepy in the 
bargain. I thought the sun had surely lodged some- 
where and never would go down, but it did, and I 
went home happy and free. 

I taught my ninth term of school at New Lon- 
don", Howard county, Indiana, commencing the 
first of 9th month, 1866, for a term of five months. 
Henry Hunt was one of the directors ; he did his 
part faithfully as a director, by helping in all ways 
possible for the benefit of the school. I had an 
eighteen months license to teach ; was examined 
by E. N. Fay and got a good grade on all branches. 
The price or wages that the teacher got were regu- 
lated by the time of the certificate. I received forty- 
one and two-third dollars per month. There were 
about one hundred pupils enrolled during the term, 
about forty of whom were of the same size. We 
had old wooden desks at the commencement of the 
term, but soon got new ones that were very nice 
and convenient to sit at, and there could but two 
sit at a desk on account of a dividing piece in the 
middle. I have thought sometimes that it was a 
good plan, because generally there has to be crowd- 
ed from four to six at a desk, and very often all of 
them have to move to let one get out. 

This winter we had two good stoves and plenty 
of good wood and everything needful to make us 
comfortable. My wife assisted me during this term, 



48 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

and I do think she had the best knack of getting 
the attention of the little fellows, and could impress 
the lessons on their minds the best, of any person 
I have ever seen. We got along most of the time 
without having to whip much ; I whipped one boy 
the hardest during this term that I ever did ; it was 
for tearing up a girl's hood at noon one day. I had 
been off of the school grounds and was returning 
when he ran out of the school house about two rqds~ 
stopped, and deliberately tore the hood to pieces.! 
I did not say a word to him then ; he did not knrnr 
that I had seen him tear it up. When I took up 
school I called him to me and asked him why he 
did so. He began to deny it. Said I, " Stop, I saw 
it torn up myself. " There was a nursery next to 
the school grounds ; I sent a boy up after an apple 
tree sprout, and I nearly wore it out on him. He 
said he was going home. I told him if he started 
to go home I would give him another dressing. It 
made another boy of him ; he was just as good now 
as he had been bad. Here is one case in which I 
am satisfied whipping did good. I punished more 
this winter by having them stand with their nose 
and toes against the wall, or to stand up and hold 
a book out at arms length,. and that is very hard 
work. They did not want to get there but once ; 
that satisfied them. 

Martin Hubbard, a cousin of mine, attended 
this school. He had been gone in the army and 
had not the privilege of going to school. He now 
seemed to realize the importance of study and of 
applying one's mind to his books. The little boys 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 49 

about town got in a way after school was out of go- 
ing to the fair-ground to fight. I soon found it out 
and sometimes they got a whipping at the fair- 
ground and another when they got back to school. 
The school law of Indiana said that a scholar was 
under the jurisdiction of the teacher from the time 
he left home in the morning until he came back at 
night. These are some of the trials a teacher has 
to pass through in his or her pathway as a teacher. 

I would say here that if teachers would watch 
and keep their eyes and ears open they would learn 
a great deal, and if they would make the eye a study 
by watching their pupils, they could soon detect 
when anything was going wrong with or among 
their scholars. I am fully satisfied that the study 
of the eye is just as much a science as that of alge- 
bra. A detective once said to me that he could tell 
a thief or a pickpocket by looking him in the eye. 
He said that a thief or rogue did not look like any 
person else. 

We had at the close of this term an excellent 
exhibition. We had many very good pieces and 
they were acted well and spoken well. We had a 
dumb bell exercise that was very good indeed, by 
four boys and three girls. I always loved to have 
exhibitions at the close of a term ; it has a great 
tendency to cement scholars together and cause 
them to feel as one family. Our exercises were all 
of the first class. My pupils learned very fast dur- 
ing the term. But a teacher has many ups and 
downs that few people find out. A great many 
people think that a teacher's life is all joy and sun- 



50 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

shine. A teacher often feels when he has dismissed 
his school and the pupils have all gone home, that 
his mind will have a little rest. There was one cir- 
cumstance that happened the day before school 
closed. There was a young man refused to do as I 
told him. I told him to stand with his nose and 
toes against the wall ; he said he would not do it. 
Said I, " I am done with thee and will not hear thee 
recite any more until that is made right." He sat 
there awhile and then commenced talking to some 
■of the scholars. I told him to stop that ; I did not 
allow persons that were not scholars to interrupt 
my .school. 

He sat there until I dismissed school ; all the 
rest of the pupils had gone home. He staid and 
helped me carry in wood for morning. When we 
got that done, he broke down crying, and asked me 
to forgive him for what he had done. I asked him 
if he was sorry. He said he was ; that he had a 
hard temper to manage, and he wanted me to let 
him come back to school in the morning. He said 
he did not like the idea of being turned away from 
school ; that he had a part in several dialogues, and 
wanted to be there. I told him, all right. He was 
there early the next morning, and helped to get all 
things in readiness for the day and evening. Hav- 
ing a pupil to refuse is where some of the bitter 
comes in a teacher's life. We closed our term and 
our exercises to good satisfaction; many people 
being present to witness our work, and all were well 
pleased. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 51 

A TEACHER IN GOD'S SCHOOL. 

God keeps a school for his children here on 
earth, and one of his best teachers is named Disap- 
pointment. He is a rough teacher ; severe in tone 
and harsh in his handling, sometimes, but his tui- 
tion is worth all it costs us. We do not pretend to 
be a very apt learner, but many of our best lessons 
through life have been taught us by that same stern 
old schoolmaster, Disappointment. 

One lesson we learned was, not to be selfish, or 
imagine that this world was all made for us. If it 
had been, the sun would have shone just when our 
hay needed curing, and the rain would have fallen 
only when our garden thirsted for water. But we 
found that God rendered things to please himself, 
and not us. And when our schemes were broken 
up, and our journey spoiled by the storm, the stern 
schoolmaster said: " The world was not made for 
you alone ; do not be selfish. Your loss is another's 
gain. The rain that spoils your hay makes your 
neighbor's corn grow the faster. The fall in wheat 
that cuts down your profits will help the poor widow 
in yonder cottage to buy bread for her hungry little 
mouths, next winter. The working Christian that 
removed from your church, and almost broke your 
heart, will make some other pastor's vineyard glad. 
Your loss is another man's gain. Don't be selfish." 
On a grand scale, sometimes, this lesson is taught. 
"When a certain ambitious self-seeker once clutched 
at the dominion of all Europe, stern Disappointment 
met him in his path of invasion, flung a Russian 



52 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWN'S. 

snow storm in his face, and out of the tiny snow- 
flakes wove a white shroud to wrap the flower of 
French chivalry. The lesson that the proud usurper 
would not learn at Aspern and Eylau was taught 
him at Borodino, and in ghastly blood-prints on the 
frozen banks of the Beresina. His successor, the 
third Napoleon, has also been taught the same les- 
son : "All Europe does not belong to you." So, too, 
have we in the defeat of our humble plans of self- 
seeking, been made to hear the sharp teacher say : 
"Do not be selfish. God did not make this world 
just for you. Other people have rights as well as 
yourself." This lesson was worth all it cost us. 

A second lesson whichDisappointment has taught 
us is, that our losses are not only gains, sometimes, 
to others, but are very often the richest gains to 
ourselves. In our short-sighted ignorance, we had 
" devised a way," and set our hearts upon it. Had 
we been allowed to pursue it, we must have been led 
by it to ruin. The railway train we were disap- 
pointed in not reaching Was dashed into fragments 
down an embankment ; the steamer that we were 
too late for was burned to a wreck. At the moment, 
we scolded bitterly ; but, by and by, we found out 
that God could not have sent a more fatal judgment 
upon us than simply to have let us have our own 
way. That seemed right unto us, but the end 
thereof was death. 

A hundred illustrations of this truth occurs to 
us. A "first honor" in college has turned more 
than one young man's head ; the disappointment of 
losing it has goaded on another to higher distinc- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 53 

tions than he had lost. More than one covetous 
merchant has been so thwarted in his enterprises 
for money making, that he has been enraged with 
mortification. But his Heavenly Father knew the 
dangers of success to him, and saved him from 
sorer sorrows. A young lawyer, heart-broken by 
the early death of the sweet girl he loved, turns 
away for solace to sacred studies and doing good ; 
he becomes a successful winner of souls in Christ's 
ministry. The pecuniary crash of 1857 threw 
thousands into bankruptcy ; but many a man was 
made richer in the priceless treasure of a Christian's 
hope. A dark door did Disappointment open that 
year, but it led thousands into the pathway to 
heaven. A dark doorway, too, did Death open to 
my friend B — and his young wife, when their child 
went from them so suddenly ; but their hearts went 
after the departed lamb up to the Divine Shepherd. 
The death of their darling was the means of their 
soul's conversion. During our twenty-five years' 
ministry, we have seen more souls converted, or 
especially sanctified, through the loss of little chil- 
dren than from any other Providential discipline. 

The record-book of every christian's life has 
some pages in it which were written at the bidding 
of that severe teacher, Disappointment. Tears may 
have blotted and blurred the pages of many a one 
at the time. But as we turn over to that page now, 
and read it in the light of experience, we can write 
beneath it : " Thank God for those losses ! they were 
my everlasting gain. Thank God for those be- 
reavements ! they have saved my soul from being 



54 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

bereft of heaven. "All things work together for 
good to them that love God ; to them who are called 
according to His purpose." 

My friend, if you and I ever reach our Father's 
house, we shall look back and see that the sharp- 
voiced, rough-visaged teacher, Disappointment, was 
one of the best guides to train us for it. He gave 
us hard lessons. He often used the rod. He often 
led us into thorny paths. He sometimes stripped 
off a load of luxuries ; but that only made us travel 
the freer and faster on our heavenward way. He 
sometimes led us down into the valley of the death- 
shadow ; but never did the promises read so sweetly 
as when spelled out by the eye of faith in that very 
valley. Nowhere did he lead us so often, or teach 
such sacred lessons, as at the cross of Christ. Dear, 
old, rough handed teacher ! We will build a monu- 
ment to thee yet, and crown it with garlands, and 
inscribe on it : Blessed be the memory of Disappoint- 
ment. 

Disappointment's the fate of all, 
Young and old, great and small. 

My tenth term of school commenced about the 
first of 2d month, 1867, at Eussiaville, Howard 
county, Indiana. Their teacher had failed to get a 
certificate after teaching sis weeks, and had to give 
up the school. The second or third day after my 
school closed the directors from Eussiaville came 
over after me. I told them I had just been in school 
for five months and did not want to go right to work 
again. They insisted so hard that I finally told 
them I would go down and see the trustee in order 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 55 

to satisfy them. This was on Second-day evening. 
I told them I would be at the trustee's the next day. 
The reason I did not want to teach there was that the 
school had a very bad name as being hard to man- 
age. The real reason however, was, that I did not 
want to teach anywhere at that time. 

The wages of teachers were regulated by the 
number of months his certificate was issued for. A 
six months license drew thirty dollars per month ; 
twelve months, thirty-five ; eighteen months, forty- 
one and two-thirds dollars per month ; two years, 
forty-five dollars per month. Mine was for eighteen 
months, therefore I could not expect to draw more 
than forty-one and two-thirds dollars, but I decided 
before I got there to make this proposition to them, 
hoping that they would not employ me : I told the 
trustee that if they would give me forty-five dollars 
per month and build fires for me, I would teach the 
school. Said he, " I will give it." There was no 
chance now to get out, so we contracted, and school 
was to commence next morning. I went back home, 
as the saying is, " down in the mouth," determined, 
however, to do the best I possibly could. 

In the morning I gathered my bell and some 
books and was on the road by sun up ; school was 
to commence at nine o'clock ; it was two miles from 
New London, where I lived, to Eussiaville, but I 
was there early and on time. When I got there not 
a soul was present, no fire, and the house dirty. In 
a few minutes some one come to build a fire. We 
swept out, and soon they began to come in. They 
would stare at me when they came in as though I 



56 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

was some wild animal, and they would walk around 
and view me from head to foot. When school time 
came I rang the bell and when every one got seated 
and very quiet, I said : " This is the kind of order 
we want, and it is the kind we expect to have ; the 
first fellow that makes any disturbance will find 
everything stopped and himself or herself brought 
back ; those who are too large to be whipped and re- 
fuse to obey orders will be expelled instanter, and 
I will see that the smaller ones come up to the line. 
Order is what we want and expect to have, (and 
looking at a couple of " gads " standing in the cor- 
ner,) yes, we will use them, and use them freely." 
All went off nicely the first day ; on the second 
day some one knocked at the door. I stepped to 
the door and the deputy sheriff was there. He in- 
quired if a couple of boys were there, calling their 
names. I answered yes, but I did not know them 
personally. He said he wanted them. I called 
them, they came out, and he took them off to jail. 
They had stolen some money in town. I passed a 
rule that every pupil coming in after the bell rang 
for books and the school got quiet, should give a 
reason for being tardy, and that they should stop 
and stand on the floor until satisfaction was ren- 
dered. In a few days the trustee and some of the 
directors came in at noon and stayed awhile after 
we went to work. In about fifteen or twenty min- 
utes in came a half grown chap as though he did 
not "care whether school kept or not ;" he was go- 
ing right on to his seat. Said I, " Stop, and stand 
there in the floor, I am busy just now." He looked 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 57 

at me at first as though he expected to do as he 
pleased. " Stop ! " said I again. He halted this 
time. When I got ready I asked him what his ex- 
cuse was for being tardy. He said he had no ex- 
cuse', only that he did not get there. "Then," said 
I, "stand there awhile, and make no fuss about it, 
or I'll use that rod in the corner." He stood all 
quiet. At recess a little girl came up and whis- 
pered to me, " Mr. Hubbard, do you know whose 
boy that was ? " She said it was the director's boy, 
and the director sitting there ; she thought that I 
did not know who it was. This little circumstance 
made that director one of my warmest friends. He 
sent to school to me at New London one term after 
that. It should be the motto of every teacher nev- 
er to show any partiality among scholars, because 
it will be seen by the smallest pupils in the school 
room. 

In a few days after this, at recess in the after- 
noon, some one said there were two boys going to 
fight. I stepped to the door, and within ten feet of 
the door there they stood, with knives drawn ready 
to plunge them into each other. I stepped right 
between them, and taking hold of them marched 
them into the house. They were young men, grown. 
I called school right away, and then I commenced 
to talk to them. I felt that that would be the best 
way to work. They listened to me very attentively. 
I appealed to their better judgment ; in a little while 
they began to cry, and I got them to shake hands 
and ask each other's pardon. The rest of the school 
listened very attentively. I heard no more classes 



58 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

that afternoon, but I accomplished a good work 
with those boys. I had good order all through my 
school there. I have found that it is a good plan to 
begin a school right, so far as order is concerned, 
and then keep it right to that all the way along 
through the school. I am satisfied that many 
teachers fail because they let the pupils have their 
own way for the first few days, to find them out, as 
they say. Now, a. boy is a boy, wherever you find 
him. Then they think after they have found them 
out they can make rules. That, to my mind, is like 
putting sheep into a pasture with a three-rail fence 
around it ; they jump over that, and a fourth rail is 
put on — over they go; the fifth, sixth, and so on, 
and still they jump. If the six rails had been on at 
the start, they would never have got over it. Teach- 
ers, make your rules the first morning of school, 
and when the first fellow jumps over, stop every- 
thing and bring him back. 

I taught three months in this term, and the 
patrons were well pleased with my labors as a 
teacher. There was a young man by the name of 
Fox, who I think was the most attentive to his les- 
sons of any one I have ever seen. He worked all 
his examples in arithmetic by analysis, and he 
would sometimes work a week on an example before 
he would ask for any information. There were a 
number of very fine young men and women attend- 
ing this school. There was a young man by the 
name of Lightner, and a young woman by the name 
of Gray, who were exceptions to the general rule for 
being kind, quiet and attentive to their studies. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 59 

The last clay of school I took dinner in town ; the 
lady of the house asked me if I knew why the 
scholars minded me so well at school. I replied 
that I did not. She said she could tell ; she said 
they got the word there that if they did not mind 
what I said that I would "shillalah" the ground 
with them. Then I understood why they eyed me 
so close the first morning of school. All closed 
quiet, and to very good satisfaction. 

EDUCATE. 

Parents, do you educate your children in the 
solemn and momentous duties which must rest 
upon them, when realizing that they must soon fill 
the places left vacant by our removal? Fathers, 
do you educate your sons, realizing that they must 
soon be citizens of a Christian government, and 
upon them must rest the solemn duty of soon watch- 
ing over another generation of immortal beings? 
Mothers, do you educate your daughters in the sol- 
emn duties which must rest upon them when they 
come to fill the stations you now fill ? Do you real- 
ize, when you thus teach them, that most of them 
will grow to the stature of womanhood, and that 
whether they become women or not will largely de- 
pend upon your instructions and your example? 
Do you realize that many of them will become 
mothers, and that upon them more than all other 
influences combined will hang the future destiny of 
those immortal beings who are to be the men and 
women of no distant day ? Fellow teachers, do we 
realize and perform the duties which rest upon us 



60 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

in trying to educate the immortal beings entrusted 
to our charge, at an age whilst they are still sus- 
ceptible of receiving lasting impressions ! May we 
all prayerfully seek to realize our duties, and ask 
for ability to perform them to the honor of Him who 
has bestowed upon us the talents we possess. 

Improve the time, improve the day ; 
" To-day's the day," the Lord doth say. 

My eleventh term of school was taught at New 
London, Howard county, Indiana, the summer of 
1867. I commenced the first of 5th month^for a 
term of two months — a subscription school.; Sev- 
eral of those who went to me at Eussiaville, came 
this summer. I just announced to the people of 
those two places that I would commence at a cer- 
tain time, and all who wished to do so could send. 
They kept on coming until I had to have an assist- 
ant. Jennie Jones was going to school, and I em- 
ployed her to assist me. There were several young 
men and women who came from a distance of sev- 
eral miles. Alvin McDowell, and his brother, 
attended this school. There was a young woman 
attended this school who was living at home with 
her father and mother, and enjoying all that any 
young woman could wish. I met her a few years 
ago, and she told me, with tears in her eyes, that 
her father and mother were laid away in the cold 
ground, and that she was left alone, with no one to 
take care of her. I felt very sorry for her, and the 
prayer of my heart was^ "Lord, be mindful of the 
orphans ! " She seemed to feel as though she had 
found a friend when she met me. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS'. 61 

There was going on at this time a school at the 
Friends' quarterly meeting school house. Solomon 
Hastings was teaching that one. The scholars of 
one school would visit the other at noons, and have 
gay times playing some of the games of school life. 
When I have looked upon the children on the school 
grounds at play, I have thought it no wonder that 
our Lord and Master said: "Except ye become 
converted, and become as little children, ye can in 
nowise enter the kingdom of heaven." 

Some of the most beautiful lessons that I have 
ever learned in all my life I have learned from the 
children at play on the school grounds. When I 
have thus seen them in all their innocence and 
mirthfulness, I have said to myself, "Is it possible 
that these innocent creatures will ever experience 
trouble and sorrow?" But alas! how soon those 
happy faces are changed and sorrow begins to twine 
its fetters around those happy mortals ! Oh, that 
I might become more and more as a little child in 
all I say or do. Oh Lord, give me more of thy 
Spirit, that my life may be in some measure like 
thine. Bless me, My Savior ; bless even me, the 
poorest and weakest of all thy believing children. 
Bless even me. 

Our school progressed very finely and to very 
good satisfaction. The pupils got along together 
very harmoniously, as much so as I have ever seen. 
I have never seen so nearly all of a school interest- 
ed in their work and that tried so hard to have 
their lessons well as this school. At the close of 
the term, or at the last day, we went to a grove 



'62 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

near by and had a very nice entertainment, in the 
way of declamations and essays, many of the pa- 
rents and friends of the children attending. All 
seemed well pleased with the progress of the pupils. 
At the close of this term, like many others, I felt 
that the children were very dear to me ; and how 
lonesome I would feel for quite awhile. 

The memory of those dear pupils, 
How they linger around my heart! 

If their plays were small and futile, 
May we all meet never more to part. 

The Lord has been mindful of us ; praise His 
name. 

THE BEAUTIFUL OLD STORY. 

We cannot find anything more appropriate for 
our young readers at the present time, than the 
first lesson we had last summer from the gospel ac- 
cording to St. Luke. So we have given them this 
old Christmas story : 

"And there were in this same country shep- 
herds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their 
flocks by night. 

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, 
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them ; 
and they were sore afraid. 

And the angel said unto them, Fear not : for 
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
shall be to all people. 

For unto you is born this day, in the city of 
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 



A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 63 

And this shall be a sign unto you : Ye shall find 
the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a 
manger. 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multi- 
tude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good will toward men. 

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone 
away from them into heaven, the shepherds said 
one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethle- 
hem, and see this thing which is come to pass, 
which the Lord hath made known unto us. 

And they came with haste, and found Mary and 
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 

And when they had seen it, they made known 
abroad the saying which was told them concerning 
this child. 

And all they that heard it, wondered at those 
things which were told them by the shepherds. 

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered 
them in her heart. 

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and 
praising God for all the things that they had heard 
and seen, as was told unto them." — St. Luke, ii:8- 
20. 

BY THEIE FRUITS. 

A noted infidel having lectured at Deptford, 
England, was replied to by a well-known resident, 
who, contrasting the work that christians were do- 
ing with that of skeptics, said : 

"I have been out often between the hours of 



64 A TEACHBE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

midnight and daybreak, searching for poor, friend- 
less lads, with a view to rescue and bring them to 
our boys' home at Deptf ord, and I have visited some 
of the lowest lodging-houses in London, and there 
I have seen the scripture reader, engaged in his 
work for God ; and as I have walked through the 
streets, I have seen the female missionary dealing 
with those of her own sex who had fallen, and seek- 
ing to save them from a life of misery. But never 
have I seen an infidel out at these hours ready and 
willing to afford even temporal help to those who 
were, in need/' 

Others have trodden the streets of great cities 
again and again on errands of mercy through the 
weary hours of night, and while they have found 
skeptics among the outcasts and the homeless there, 
they have met with none of them who were seeking 
to save and rescue the lost. 

Another fact is not without interest : it is stated 
that when this same skeptical gentleman last visit- 
ed the United States upon a lecturing tour — being 
welcomed in some instances to platforms and lec- 
ture courses largely patronized by religious people, 
while on other occasions he associated with his 
more congenial skeptical companions — he at last 
fell sick at his hotel in the city of New York. No 
infidel institution opened its doors to receive him, 
nor did his skeptical brethren make provision for 
the necessities of the stranger in his distress, but 
the doors of St. Luke's hospital were thrown open, 
and there, in a clean bed, which christian people 
had prepared for the love of Christ whom he bias- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 65 

phenied, he had the privilege of meditating upon 
the difference between the fruits of skepticism and 
Christianity. "By their fruits ye shall know them. 
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? " 
Skepticism has had ages of opportunity ; it has had 
wealth and prestige, fame and nobility following in 
its train. What has it done ? Where are the works 
of philanthropy and of mercy which it has wrought ? 
Who are the fallen whom it has lifted up ? Where 
are the nations which it has civilized, enlightened 
and improved ? Its whole course is simply destruc- 
tion and desolation. Infidelity seeks to tear down 
what Christianity seeks to build up. Let candid 
men judge from the acts and fruits of each, which 
has the best claim to be considered the offspring of 
God and the friend of the human family. 

ONLY. 

Only a bird, storm-affrighted, 

Hid in a cleft of the rock ; 
A lamb that, astray and benighted 

The shepherd bore home to his flock. 

Only a brand from the burning, 

Snatched by a Saviour's hand; 
A prodigal, late returning 

From a far off foreign land. 

Only of sinners the chiefest, 

Having no other boast 
Than the right to love most deeply, 

For I was forgiven most ! 



66 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



THE CHURCH "WALKING WITH THE WOELD. 

The Church and the World walked apart, 

On the changing shore of time, 
The World was singing a giddy song, 

And the Church a hymn sublime. 
" Come, give me your hand," cried the merry World, 

"And walk with me this way; " 
But the Church hid her snowy hands, 

And solemnly answered, " Nay, 
I will not give you my hand at all, 

And I will not walk with you; 
Your way is the way to endless death; 

Your words are all untrue." 

"Nay, walk with me but a little space," 

Said the World, with a kindly air; 
" The road I walk is a pleasant road, 

And the sun shines always there ; 
Your path is thorny and rough and rude. 

And mine is broad and plain; 
My road is paved with flowers and dews, 

And yours with tears and pain; 
The sky above is always blue; 

No want, no toil I know; 
The sky above you is always dark; 

Your lot is a lot of woe; 
My path, you see, is a broad, fair one, 

And my gate is high and wide ; 
There is room enough for you and for me 

To travel side by side." 

Half slyly the Church approached the World, 

And gave him her hand of snow; 
The old World grasped it and walked along, 

Saying in accents low, 
" Your dress is too simple to please my taste;. 

I will give you pearls to wear, 
Rich velvets and silks for your graceful form, 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 67 

And diamonds to deck your hair." 
The Church looked down at her plain white robes, 

And then at the dazzling World, 
And blushed as she saw his handsome lip 

With a smile contemptuous curled. 
"I will change my dress for a costlier one," 

Said the Church with a smile of grace; 
Then her pure white garments drifted away, 

And the World gave in their place: 
Beautiful satins and shining silks, 

And roses and gems and pearls ; 
And over her forehead her bright hair fell 

Crisped in a thousand curls. 

" Your house is too plain," said the proud old World. 

"I'll build you one like mine; 
Carpets of Brussels and curtains of lace, 

And furniture ever so fine." 
So he built her a costly and beautiful house; 

Splendid it was to behold ; 
Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there, 

Gleaming in purple and gold; 
And fairs and shows in the halls were held, 

And the World and his children were there, 
And laughter and music and feasts were heard 

In the place that was meant for prayer. 
She had cushioned pews for the rich and great, 

To sit in their pomp and pride ; 
While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits, 

Sat meekly down outside. . 

The Angel of Mercy flew over the Church, 

And whispered, "I know thy sin; " 
Then the Church looked back with a sigh, and longed 

To gather her children in. 
But some were off at the midnight ball, 

And some were off at the play, 
And some were drinking in gay saloons; 

So she quietly went her way. 



68 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

Then the sly World gallantly said to her, 

"Your children mean no harm, 
Merely indulging in innocent sports;" 

So she leaned on his proffered arm, 
And smiled and chattered and gathered flowers 

As she walked along with the World ; 
While millions and millions of deathless souls 

To the horrible gulf were hurled. 

" Your preachers are all too old and plain," 

Said the gay World, with a sneer; 
" They frighten my children with dreadful tales 

Which I like not for them to hear; 
They talk of brimstone and fire and pain, 

And the horrors of endless night; 
They talk of a place which should not be 

Mentioned to ears polite. 
I will send you some of the better stamp, 

Brilliant and gay and fast, 
Who will tell them that people may live as they list 

And go to heaven at last. 
The Father is merciful, great and good, 

Tender and true and kind; 
Do you think He would take one child to heaven 

And leave the rest behind?" 
So he filled her house with gay divines, 

Gifted and great and learned ; 
And the plain old men that preached the cross 

Were out of the pulpits turned. 

"You give too much to the poor," said the World, 

"Far more than you ought to do; 
If the poor need shelter and food and clothes, 

Why need it trouble you? 
Go take your money and buy rich robes, 

And horses and carriages fine, 
And pearls and jewels and dainty food, 

And the rarest and costliest wine; 
My children they dote on all such things, 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 69 

And if you their love would win, 
You must do as they do, and walk in the ways 
That they are walking in." 

Then the Church held tightly the strings of her purse 

And gracefully lowered her head, 
And simpered, "I've given too much away; 

I'll do, sir, as you have said." 
So the poor were turned from her door in scorn, 

And she heard not the orphan's cry ; 
And she drew her beautiful robes aside, 

As the widows went weeping by; 
And the sons of the World and the sons of the Church, 

Walked closely hand and heart, 
And only the Master who knoweth all 

Could tell the two apart. 

Then the Church sat down at her ease and said 

" I am rich, and in goods increased; 
I have need of nothing, and nought to do 

But to laugh and dance and feast;" 
And the sly World heard her and laughed in his sleeve 

And mockingly said aside: 
" The Church is fallen, the beautiful Church, 

And her shame is her boast and pride." 

The angel drew near to the mercy-seat, 

And whispered in sighs her name, 
And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed, 

And covered their heads with shame; 
And a voice came down through the hush of heaven 

From Him who sat on the throne: 
" I know thy work, and how thou hast said, 

I am rich; and hast not known 
That thou art naked, poor and blind. 

And wretched before my face; 
Therefore, from my presence I cast thee out, 

And blot thy name from its place." 



70 A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

VISIT YOUR SCHOOLS. 

Visiting schools is much neglected by both 
officers and parents. That more attention should 
be given to this work few will deny. We would in- 
sist upon the performance of this duty, for the fol- 
lowing reasons : 

1. For the encouragement of the pupils. 

2. To encourage, sustain and assist the teachers 
in the work. 

3. That they, as patrons, may see exactly how 
the schools are being conducted. 

4. That they may learn how schools are conduct- 
ed, with an eye to the improvement of the system, 
or to improvement in its administration. 

Parents and officers can not expect to improve 
their system while they remain in total ignorance 
of what it should be. The people should study ed- 
ucation, that they may be able to improve the sys- 
tem and its administration. Parents, do not com- 
plain of the school, until you have visited it fre- 
quently. 

My twelfth term was taught the winter of 1867-8 
at Porcupine school house, Howard County, Indiana. 

I had a very interesting school this winter, some 
forty odd scholars on the list. Last winter they had 
a teacher that could hardly do anything with 
them at all. He had very hard work to get his 
scholars in the house sometimes. They said that 
at one time every scholar except two that were re- 
citing went out into the yard, stood peeping in 
through the window at him, and it was quite a long 



A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 71 

while before he could get them back into their seats. 
It seemed to me that if I had been teaching there, 
and they should have attempted any such game as 
that, I would have stopped everything and brought 
them back with a hurrah to it. I visited his school 
one day last winter, and at recess it took him some 
ten minutes to get them back into their seats. He 
was a good scholar and a very fine young man, but 
had no tact of governing at all. My school passed 
along very quietly and pleasantly. I told them at 
the commencement of this term that I would not 
bother much with them, and that the best way for 
us to get along was for them to come up to the chalk 
line, and they did so. 

Whenever I rang the bell they all got to their 
seats as soon as convenient, and if there was any of 
them that was not in their seats when the signal 
bell was sounded to stand up on the floor until I 
told them to take their seats, every fellow was found 
in his or her seat at the signal. They did not fancy 
the idea of having to stand on the floor. 

I liked to teach here very much ; I loved the 
pupils ; they were good and kind to me, and they 
were always ready to obey all commands. Samuel 
Schooley was one of the directors, and he was one 
of that kind of men who was ever willing to do all 
in his power to make a success of the school. He 
often visited the school. He passed away many 
years ago, and I hope to that brighter and bettei 
land, where his estimable wife has long since gone. 
She was one of the best women I have ever known. 
It was rumored about at her death that she died a 



72 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

spiritualist, but that was a mistake, for on her 
death bed she said so tell the people that she did 
not die a Spiritualist, but a Christian — a strong 
believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. It was my priv- 
ilege to attend her funeral. H. Gordon attended 
this school. He was all life and gaity ; always full 
of fun ; all went well with him. Many others at- 
tended this term that I might speak of. This 
neighborhood was looked upon as being a very bad 
place, but there were many very noble persons 
lived here. I am satisfied that many of 
my pupils learned lessons this winter that they 
will never forget. I held meeting for one week at 
my school house this winter, and I never saw such 
an effect on a place in my life. Many were brought 
near to trust and love their Lord and Master. It 
affected the whole neighborhood. It was a great 
blessing to my school, and I want to say right here 
that I believe that a meeting held in the fear of the 
Lord, or a series of them, will always work the 
same way in every school district. I speak from 
experience when thus I talk, as I have tested the 
work in many places. Many teachers would find 
this kind of work very beneficial to their schools. 

This winter was a very fine one. I taught three 
and a half months. Jennie Paff, Ella Stout and 
Cally Schooley attended school this wir»ter. We 
had some spelling schools. I want to bear testi- 
mony to the Lord being very precious to me and my 
family this winter. Our old friend, Calvin Wasson, 
visited our little home ; after he came in and had 
sat dowF for a little while, he said: "Well, there 



A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 73 

is something worth fishing after here." He talked 
very nice to us ; it was about the time there was a 
movement in our society. I have often thought 
that the Lord sent him here to our home. The 
good man has many days ago gone home. My 
school closed with a very nice exhibition, and all 
passed off very pleasantly and to the satisfaction 
of all. 

PARADOXES. 

The English language is full of paradoxes. 
"Show me a fire, for I am wet," said a traveller, 
" and bring me also a jug of ale, for I am dry." ''You 
walk very slow," said a man to a consumptive. 
"Yes," he replied, "but I am going very fast." 
Breaking both wings of an army is sure to make it 
fiy. A general may win the day in a battle fought 
at night, and a man detained an hour may be able 
to make a minute of it. A fire goes out, and yet it 
does not leave the room : and a man killed in a duel 
may have a second to live after he is dead. Figures,. 
it is said, will never lie ; this is not true of words. 

A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good 
school in every district — all studied and appreci- 
ated" as they should be — are the principal supports 
of virtue, morality and civil liberty. 

WHITTIEE, THE QUAKER POET. 

The venerable and venerated poet, John Green- 
leaf Whittier, was born in the town of Haverhill, 
Massachusetts, December 27, 1807. His father was 
a plain, practical farmer, possessed of those valu- 



74 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

ble qualities : common sense and good judgment. 
His mother, combining a fine education with a 
beautiful disposition, was one of those ideal women 
to whom eminent men may attribute the foundation 
of their greatness. The poet's early life and subse- 
quent career are undoubtedly traceable to her early 
teachings and the powerful influence she had over 
him. Of Quaker parentage, he was early indoc- 
trinated with the views of the society of Friends. 
As a boy, he is said to have been quiet, good natured 
and observant. A farmer's son, he was for the 
.greater part of his time a tiller of the soil, until his 
twentieth year. Here, we can write nothing as 
regards his college career, as Mr. Whittier is almost 
entirely a self-educated man, and is master of no 
language beyond his own. His early educational 
advantages were very limited, his success in life 
being founded upon the careful training of pious 
parents, and the instruction received in the common 
schools and academy of his native place. There 
were no public libraries in those days, and the 
young poet could number on his ringers all the 
books he had read before his fifteenth birth-day. 
The family library was limited ; but from reading 
and re-reading the few well worn volumes, and his 
observations of and reflections on nature, grew at 
an early age the inspirations to write verses. 

His earliest contributions may be said to have 
been journalistic, his first article appearing in 1826 
in the Newburyport Free Press, of which William 
Lloyd Garrison was then editor. Recognizing the 
unquestionable genius which the imperfect articles 



A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 75 

and poems of the young Quaker boy evinced, Mr. 
Garrison, after some difficulty, obtained information 
sufficient to direct him to the early home of the 
poet, who with considerable trepidation acknowl- 
edged himself the author of the poems that had 
appeared in the Free Press. The acquaintance 
formed by the visit of Mr. Garrison to the obscure 
farm house ripened into friendship, and two more 
devoted friends than Whittier and Garrison are 
rarely found. Through Mr. Garrison's advice to 
the father, Mr. Whittier spent two years at the 
Haverhill Academy. After leaving the academy 
he obtained a situation as teacher in Birchy Mead- 
ows, a little village in West Amesbury, but he did 
not remain long in that field of labor. While occu- 
pying his position as teacher, he contributed regu- 
larly to the Free Press, and the American Manufac- 
turer of Boston. He possessed a keen appetite for 
knowledge, and at the age of twenty-two he had so 
enriched and disciplined his mind that he was given 
the editorial management of the American Manu- 
facturer. He remained connected with it something 
over a year, during which time he contributed to 
the columns of the New England Weekly Review, 
published at Hartford, Connecticut, by George D. 
Prentice, afterwards so famous in the history of 
journalism. 

There is some friendly dispute as to where Mr. 
Whittier's home may be. We quote from a letter 
written by a friend of his: "Mr. Whittier's resi- 
dence for many years was, or has been — for we do 
not mean to be drawn into this war — in the town 



76 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

of Amesbury, and he still holds property in that 
place. 

Mr. Whittier lives in the family with near rela- 
tives, at their home, something more than a mile 
northwest of Danvers. The spot is a delightful one. 
The house itself is spacious and hospitable, modern 
as to comfort and convenience, and venerable 
enough for dignity and homelike appearance. The 
material is wood, and the color a light brown. Mr. 
Whittier's private sitting room or study is a cozy 
little apartment, warmed with its fire of coals in an 
open grate. He dresses in black, cut in Quaker 
fashion, is fond of receiving friends at his home, 
but rarely visits them, or attends any assembly 
whatever. Mr. Whittier has never been married, 
and it may be that those soft, touching lines 

" Still memory to a gray- haired man 
That sweet child-face is showing," etc., 

embody more personal sentiment and feeling than 
is generally comprehended. Mr. Whittier has pub- 
lished nearly thirty volumes, mostly of verse. Two 
of his poems have enjoyed an exceptional popular- 
ity, "Maud Muller" and "Snow Bound." The 
first, telling a story of universal experience, appeals 
to every heart ; while the second affords the most 
faithful and finished picture of winter life in New 
England that has ever been sent forth from the 
poet's pen. 

What splendid painting there is in the last 
named poem, Snow Bound, a Winter Idyl ! How 
gloriously and yet how delicately does he describe a 
household which we all recognize. There are re- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 77 

frains in it which rouse the soul, and there are 
quiet glimpses of gentle home life which fill the 
mind with beautiful thoughts, and make the wan- 
derer from the homestead feel a longing to return 
-to it. It is a poem which it is best to read when 
the bleak winds whistle without and the dancing 
snow fills the air. This picture of New England should 
be read at night, in the winter time, in some farm- 
er's rugged house. In such a spot these lines would 
ring out in a grander measure : 

" The moon above the eastern wood 
Shone at its full ; the hill range stood 
Transfigured in the silver flood, 
Its blown snows flashing cold and keen 
Dead white, save where some dark ravine 
Took shadow, or the sombre green 
Of hemlocks turned to pitchy black 
Against the whiteness of their back. 
For such a world and such a night 
Most fitting that un warming light, 
Which only seemed where'er it fell 
To make the coldness visible. 

" Shut in from all the world without 
We sat the clean-winged hearth about, 
Content to let the north wind roar 
In baffled rage at pane and door, 
While the red logs before us beat 
The frost-line back with tropic heat; 
And ever, as a louder blast 
Shook beam and rafter as it passed, 
The merrier soaring up its roaring draught, 
The great throat of the chimney laughed; 
The house-dog on his paws outspread 
Laid to the fire his drowsy head; 
The cat's dark silhouette on the wall 
A couchant tiger seemed to fall ; 



78 a teacher's dps and downs. 

And, for the winter's fireside meet, 
Between the andiron's straddling feet, 
The mug of cider simmered slow, 
The apples sputtered in a row, 
And, close at hand, the basket stood 
With nuts from brown October's wood." 

On December 17, 1877, a complimentary dinner 
was given at the Hotel Brunswick, Boston, by the 
publishers of the Atlantic Monthly to its contribu- 
tors. Mr. Whittier being prominent among the 
honored corps, and the event occurring on his sev- 
entieth birth-day, it was appropriately designated 
as the "Whittier Dinner," which leading papers 
pronounced the literary event of the season. He is 
one of the greatest and best of men — John Green- 
leaf Whittier. 

"Susie," said a teacher to one of her pupils, 
" you shouldn't make faces. You'll grow up homely 
if you make faces. " Susie looked thoughtfully in 
the teacher's face a moment, and then innocently 
asked : " Did you make faces when you was a little 
girl?" 

The word whisky has no e in it, and its plural is 
whiskies — not whiskeys. 

The summer of 1868, I taught my thirteenth 
term of school, at New London, Howard County, 
Indiana. It was a three months term. It was 
quite a large school, there being about sixiy pupils 
enrolled during the term, many coming from other 
districts — young men and women. We lived at 
this time about two miles west of town in the coun- 
try. The exercise of walking to and from school 



A TBACHEe's UPS AND DOWNS. 79 

was very good for me. A young man by the name 
of Joshua Straughn, boarded at our house and at- 
tended the school. He was a very fine young man, 
much of a gentleman in every sense of the term. 
His parents were among the finest families I ever 
had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with. 
They might have been termed the happy family, 
for they loved each other fondly. They were good, 
religious people, and they took great pains to teach 
their children right. 

My school passed along very well. I have 
thought that the teacher's life is not like the war- 
rior's ; he, with the clamor and din of powder and 
ball, bloodshed and ruin, spreading devastation and 
sorrow in his trail, while the school teacher moves 
along silently as the evening breeze, oftentimes, 
speaking a kind word to the little boys and girls 
that will be as bread cast upon the waters, to be 
gathered up many days hence for the benefit of 
those that heard them. When the warrior dies his 
friends make a great ado and exalt him to the skies, 
and point to him and say, " That great man has- 
fallen." But when the teacher goes there is noth- 
ing said as to what he has done. The warrior has 
all his glory in this world, the teacher, his glory in 
that upper and better world of glory. The teach- 
er's work is like that little leaven that the woman 
took and hid in three measures of meal : it will 
grow and grow, silently as the grass in the valley& 
or the moss on the rocks. 

Many of those pupils have embarked in various 
occupations ; some have passed away. A great 



■80 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

many people think that teaching school is very 
little work, almost as easy as play. This has been 
a very nice summer ; flowers are nice, and birds 
are singing very nice through the woods. It seemed 
to me at this time that I loved my pupils better 
than I ever did, and when the day rolled around for 
us to part, it was hard to leave them and be sepa- 
rated from them. My school closed to good satis- 
faction. 

ON KINDNESS. 

A little word in kindness spoken, 

A motion or a tear, 
Has often healed the heart that's broken, 

And made a friend sincere. 

A word, a look, has crushed to earth, 

Full many a budding flower, 
Which, had a smile but owned its birth, 

Would bless life's latest hour. 

Then deem it not an idle- thing, 

A pleasant word to speak, 
The face you wear, the thoughts you bring, 

A heart may heal or break. 



ON SWEARING. 

It chills my blood to hear the bles't Supreme 
Rudely appealed to on each trifling theme. 
Maintain your rank, vulgarity despise, 
To swear is neither great, polite or wise; 
You would not swear upon a bed of death, 
Reflect, your Maker could stop your breath. 



A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 81 



THE INFIDEL AND HIS DAUGHTER. 

These lines were suggested by reading a news- 
paper paragraph describing the scene between the 
brave Ethan Allen and his daughter, on the eve of 
her death, when she asked the stern infidel in whose 
faith he would have her die, his or her mother's. 

The damps of death are coming fast, 

My father, o'er my brow; 
The past with all its scenes has fled, 

And I must turn me now 

To that dim future, which in vain 

My eyes seem to descry; 
Tell me, my father, in this hour, 

In whose belief to die. 

In thine? I've watched the scornful smile, 

And heard thy withering tone, 
"Whene'er the Christian's humble hope 

Was placed above thine own. 

I've heard thee speak of coming death 

Without a shade of gloom, 
And laugh at all the childish fears 

That cluster round the tomb. 

Or is it in my mother's faith? 

Now fondly do I trace, 
Through many weary years long past, 

That calm and saintly face. 

How often do I call to mind 

Now she's beneath the sod, 
The place, the hour, in which she drew 

Eager thoughts to God. 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 



'Twas then she took this sacred book, 

And from its burning page 
Kead how its truths support the soul 

In youth and failing age. 

And bade me in its precepts live, 

And by its precepts die, 
That I might share a home of love, 

In worlds beyond the sky. 

My father, shall I look above, 

Amid the gathering gloom, 
To Him whose promises of love, 

Extend beyond the tomb ; 

Or curse the Being who has blessed' 
This checkered heart of mine — 

Must I embrace my mother's faith, 
Or die, my sire, like thine ? 

The frown upon that warrior's brow 

Passed like a cloud away, 
And tears coursed down the rugged cheeks- 

That flowed not till that day. 

"Not, not in mine! " with choking voice, 

The skeptic made reply, 
"But in thy mother's holy faith. 

My daughter, mayst thou die." 

EPITAPH 

Inscribed on the tombstone of Margaret Scott, in the West of Scotland. 

Stop, passengers, until my life you've read ; 
The living may get knowledge from the dead: 
Five times five years I lived a virgin's life 
And ten times five I lived, a virtuous wife ; 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 83 



Ten times five years I lived a widow chaste, 
Now, weary of this mortal life. I rest; 
Between my cradle and my grave I've seen 
Eight mighty kings of Scotland and a queen; 
Thrice did I see old prelacy pulled down ; 
And thrice the duke was humbled by the gown. 
Three times four years the Commonwealth I saw, 
Ten times the subjects rose against the law ; 
An end of Stuart's race I saw; no more 
My native country sold for English lore. 
Such desolation in my time has been, 
I have an end to all perfection seen. 
My mortal body in the grave doth lie; 
Farewell this world; I hope to live on high, 
Where glorious angels, all triumphant, sing 
Eternal praises to the King of Kings. 

I taught my fourteenth term of school the win- 
ter of 1868 and '69 at old Porcupine, Indiana. 
This was my third term at this place. I lived at 
this time about one-third of a mile east of the 
school house, on S. J. Schooley's place, and was 
handy and convenient, so that I could get up in the 
morning, go and build a fire, sweep out the house, 
and return home and eat breakfast. I had learned 
by experience that two meals a day was much bet- 
ter for health than three. I would eat just before 
I went to school, and then eat as soon as I got 
home from school. This was a three and a half 
month's term, at forty-five dollars per month. I 
had only twenty-five pupils enrolled, and I think 
that I never had scholars to learn so fast in all my 
experience as a school teacher. I had all the time 
that I needed to spend with each class in recitation. 
I would say to teachers, never become discouraged 



84 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

if your school is small ; that will give you ample 
time to do good work. I am satisfied that I saw 
more of the fruits of my labor that winter than 
ever before or since. 

We had this winter several spelling schools, and 
had nice times. There were Eddy Schooley, Albert 
Schooley, Sarah Stout, Mary Stout and quite a 
number that were very faithful in their studies. 
Eddy Schooley was an exception of a boy to study. 
He has several years ago passed away, and Albert 
also, to that better land. Quite a number of those 
pupils that were at this term have gone home. 
When I look back and think of those times, it 
seems that everything is written "Passing away, 
passing away." 

A DYING WISH. 

In Russia's far off frozen clime, 

There lived a lovely boy; 
The Lord to deeds and words of love 

Inclined his heart with joy. 

He loved to hear his parents read 

In God's most holy word, 
And treasured up within his breast, 

The blessed truths he heard. 

This little boy was very sick, 

And, when about to die, 
He called his father to his side 

And said, " I want to buy 

" Bibles to send to heathen lands 

Where they know not the Lord, 
That they may all read for themselves 

In His most holy word. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 85 

" I can not send whole Bibles there — 

Perhaps not one short word ; 
But I would like to give some help 

To make the Gospel heard. 

"Those three blight pennies in my bos 

I think a type would buy, 
To print, in Christ's most holy name, 

The dot upon the i." 

That stricken father did not fail 

Those little coins to send. 
0, children, think how many coins 

In careless waste you spend. 

Christ will receive the smallest gift. 

When follies tempt the eye, 
Think of the little Russian boy's 

Small dot upon the i." 

— [From The Christian. 

SWEET WORDS. 

The five sweetest words in the English language 
begin with h, which is only a breath : heart, hope, 
home, happiness, heaven. Heart is a home place, 
and home is a heart place ; and that man sadly 
mistaketh who would change the happiness of home 
for anything but heaven. 

George Mueller, of the Bristol Orphanage, of 
England, says, in his thirty-ninth annual report : 
"Since founding the institution we have received, 
simply through prayer and the exercise of faith, 
more than three million dollars. Sixty-six thous- 
and six hundred children and adults have been 
taught in the various schools, entirely supported by 
the funds of the institution. Ten thousand five 
hundred children now attend the schools. 



86 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

The summer of 1869 I taught my fifteenth term 
of school at what was called the Lewis Jones school 
house, Howard County, Indiana. They had a very 
nice frame school house, with three rooms, an ante, 
recitation and large school room, with patent desks, 
platform across one end of the house, blackboard 
the same. The house was finely situated, facing 
the north, three windows on each side of the large 
room. My school was quite large this summer, 
many young men and ladies coming several miles. 
There was one young woman that I wish to speak 
of — Sarah Helton — she was good and kind, and did 
all in her power to make the school a pleasant and 
enjoyable place. If all pupils were like she was, 
teachers would have but very little trouble. Also, 
one young man by the name of Joshua Straughn : 
he was kind, noble and generous, ready to obey all 
orders. My school commenced about the 1st of 4th 
month, 1869, and lasted for a term of three months. 
There was one little girl by the name of Coppock 
that started to school and continued for about two 
or three weeks, when she was taken sick. I noticed 
that she was absent, and on inquiry found she was 
unable to attend, She lived about one-fourth of a 
mile from the school house. I went at noon to visit 
her, and found she was quite sick. I continued to 
visit her every day at noon, and always took her 
some flowers. She disliked to take the medicine 
prescribed for her ; she would say "wait till teacher 
comes, then I will take it." When she got so low 
that she could not hold the flowers in her hand, 
they were placed on the bureau where she could see 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 87 

them She used to watch anxiously for me, and 
was always glad to see me. She lingered along for 
a while, and then passed away. How often have I 
thought of her in moments of trial and trouble, and 
of her patience and resignation under suffering. 
Before she was taken sick she was all life and fun. 
But she has gone to her long home, and to-day she 
rests in the arms of Jesus. 

The young people who attended my school en- 
joyed themselves very well. There was Carrie 
McCoy, who was very kind and modest, very easy 
to blush, very timid, always had her lessons well. 
Mary Newby was ready with an answer for everyone. 
Cynthia McCoy was bold and fearless. Narcissa 
Mendenhall was large and naturally timid, but very 
attentive to her studies. Albert Schooley was not 
very large, but felt quite large for a boy of his age. 
I recollect one day at recess, in the afternoon, I 
had rang the bell, and turned to go into the house, 
when I happened to look back and saw Albert 
Schooley and Will Newby in the act of fighting. I 
marched them into the house, got a gad, and gave 
them both a sound thrashing. They had agreed 
that when I turned to go into the house, after ring- 
ing the bell, they would fight. Will Newby's father 
said to his boys that if either of them got a whip- 
ping at school, he would give them another when 
they come home. Will hired his little brother not 
to tell on him at home, but there was no more 
fighting that term. They concluded that somehow 
I would find out everything that they did that was 
wrong. Had a good time at close of school. 



A TBACHEE S UPS AND DOWNS. 



THE SPARROW S INQUEST. 

"Who took His name in vain — 

The Lord of earth and sky? " 
One sparrow to another said, 

" It was not you nor I. 

" Oh no! we love to rise 
Each morn and sing His praise; 

To take God's holy name in vain! 
No sparrow has such ways ! 

"Not one of us can fall 

Unnoticed to the ground; 
And when to Him for food we've cried, 

Some crumb or worm we've found." 

It was a little boy 
That took God's name in vain; 

The awful thing I'm glad to think 
He'll never do again. 

He heard the sparrows talk, 

Perched there above his head, 
As shocked as they had been to hear 

The word that he had said. 

Not guiltless, them He holds 
That take His name in vain. 

My sixteenth term of school was taught the 
winter of 1869-70, at the Lewis Jones school house, 
the same place I taught last summer. This was a 
four months' term, and there were about fifty pupils 
enrolled. We had a very nice time. This was a 
very cold winter, yet my school kept up very well. 
This was the last of my teaching in Indiana. I had 
to whip some during this term. There are generally 
some rude boys attend school in winter, who do not 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 



attend in summer; and it is always or generally a 
little more difficult to teach in winter than in sum- 
mer. I am one of those teachers who believe in 
using the rod. The wise man said : "Spare the rod 
and spoil the child." There was a very large pond 
near the school house, which was frozen over nearly 
all winter; we had a fine time playing "shinny," 
base and foot-ball. I enjoyed playing as much as 
any of the scholars. There is one play that was 
always my favorite : "Sock-about." Get about 
half a dozen balls, and commence pelting each 
other ; get the boys started, and soon some fellow 
will fall down, and then pelt him right and left be- 
fore he can get up. Joshua Straughn«was always 
afraid of getting hit, but when he got hold of some 
of the balls there was a scattering among the boys. 
There was a young man by the name of Eich, who 
attended this school ; he was tall and overgrown, 
and the boys would generally hit him about half a 
dozen times after he started to fall, before he got to 
the ground. He was very good natured, and it was 
fun for him as well as for the rest. 

There were two Quaker preachers, named Eobert 
Knight and Nixon Bush, who visited my school and 
preached to the scholars powerfully ; they had the 
whole school bathed in tears. School closed to good 
satisfaction. 

"god's raven." 

A lady who lived on the north side of London., 
set out one day to see a poor sick friend, living in 
Drury Lane, and took with her a basket provided 



90 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

"with tea, butter and food. The day was fine and 
clear when she started, but as she drew near to 
Islington a thick fog came on, which somewhat 
frightened her, as she was deaf and feared it might 
be dangerous in the streets if she could not see. 
Thicker and darker the fog became ; they lighted the 
lamps, and the omnibus went at a walking pace. 
She might have got into another omnibus and re- 
turned, but a strange feeling she could not explain 
made her go on. When they reached the Strand 
they could see nothing. At last the omnibus stop- 
ped, and the conductor guided her to the foot-path. 
As she was groping her way along the fog cleared 
up just at the entrance to Drury Lane, and even the 
blue sky was seen. She now easily found the nar- 
row court, rang the number five bell, and climbed 
to the fifth story. She knocked at the door, and a 
little girl opened it. "How is grandmother?" 
"Come in, Mrs. A — ," answered the grandmother; 
"how did you get here? We have been in thick 
darkness all day." The room was exceedingly neat, 
and the kettle stood boiling on a small fire. Every- 
thing was in perfect order ; on the table stood a little 
tea-tray ready for use. The sick woman was in bed, 
and her daughter sat working in a corner of the 
room. "I see you are ready for tea," said the lady ; 
"I have brought something more to place upon the 
table." With clasped hands, the woman breathed 
a few words of thanksgiving, and then said: "0, 
Mrs. A — , you are indeed God's raven, sent by him 
to bring us food to-day, for we have not tasted yet. 
I felt sure He would care for us." "But you have 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 91 



the kettle ready for tea ?" " Yes, rna'm," said the 
daughter, "mother would have rne set it on the 
fire ; and when I said, « What is the use of doing so ? 
you know we have nothing in the house,' she still 
would have it, and said, 'My child, God will pro- 
vide. Thirty years he has already provided for rne, 
through all my pain and helplessness, and he will 
not leave us to starve at last ; he will send us help, 
although we do not yet see how.' In this expecta- 
tion mother has been waiting all day, quite sure 
that some one would come and supply our need. 
But we did not think of the possibility of your com- 
ing from such a distance on such a day. Indeed, 
it must be God who sent you to us." 

"The rigiiteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and 
delivereth them out of all their troubles." 

WISE SAWS. 

The only wages never reduced : the wages of sin. 
Ignorance has no light ; error follows a false one. 
Some people look at everything, yet really see noth- 
iEg. There is no grief like the grief which does not 
speak. He who chatters to no purpose, climbs a 
-tree to catch fish. He who takes advice is some- 
times superior to the giver. It is better to need 
relief than to want the heart to give it. The great- 
est truths are the simplest ; so are the greatest men. 
Oast your net in right water, and they may take the 
fish while you are sleeping. 

TRIP TO THE SOUTHWEST. 

In the fall of 1870 I moved with my family to 
Cherokee, Kansas ; we were four weeks traveling 



92 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

through with a team. I think to travel with a team 
and camp out of nights is the finest way I ever 
traveled. If people would travel more in that way 
there would be far less sickness than there is. I 
was sick when we left Indiana, and after traveling 
two days I gave out and was compelled to take a 
two days rest. As soon as we reached the large 
prairies west of Danville, Illinois, I turned and told 
my wife that the winds on the prairies were better 
than all the medicine I had ever taken, and from 
that time my health got better and improved all 
the way out. As soon as we got to Kansas, my old 
friend, I. E. Sugart, wanted me to teach school at 
Spring Eiver Meeting-house ; so I made a proposi- 
tion and they accepted it. My friend said he had a 
house one and a half miles from the school. We 
had no stoves, so I built a large fire-place ; we had 
one skillet and got another and a stew kettle, had a 
box for a table, bored some holes in the logs, put 
in some poles and fixed our beds on them. I bought 
half of a beef, got some sorghum molasses, and thus 
we lived without any butter or milk in the house 
all winter. My wife would make yeast biscuits and 
they would rise to the lids of our skillets, and I 
think the finest bread I ever ate in all my life thus 
far. I had often heard it said out here in the south- 
west, that if you started from home in the morning 
you should take an overcoat, umbrella and a fan. 
I saw this exemplified one day : I was getting ready 
to go to school and told my wife that I would not 
take my overcoat. She said I had better do so, 
that I did not know what the weather would be be- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 93 

fore night. So I took it along, but thought it very 
foolish to carry that coat to school and back, as it 
-was so warm that a person needed a fan ; the schol- 
ars were fanning about to keep cool. About ten 
o'clock it commenced raining and rained nearly an 
hour, then the wind raised and in a few minutes 
the rain had ceased, and soon I saw a heavy fog 
rolling right along on the ground and a heavy gale 
behind it. In less time than it has taken me to 
write this it was turning cold, and by the time 
school broke I could have worn three overcoats 
home and then been cold. After we had moved 
into our house I went to Columbus, the county seat, 
to be examined. There were ten or a dozen to be 
examined. There were three examiners. They put 
us all in a class, at the head of which I was put. 
They commenced by asking each of us a question, 
but they never told us whether we answered right 
or not. First one of them would take us, and then 
another, and they drilled us from ten o'clock until 
between three and four. Some of the teachers were 
dashed, some were not. I always made it a point 
when I was examined, if a question was asked that I 
could not answer I would say so, and I have always 
come out well in an examination. It is not expect- 
ed that we know everything. A great many teach- 
ers I notice let on they did know but forgot it just 
about a minute ago, and 0, how they scratch their 
heads, when they do not itch, too! Professor Ed- 
wards of the State Normal School of Illinois, says, 
f we have forgotten we do not know, and should 
say so. I have always admired that saying. 



94 A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

I taught niy seventeenth term of school at Spring 
Eiver Meeting-house, the fall and winter of 1870-71. 
I commenced in the old log school house near the 
meeting-house, and my school increased rapidly in 
numbers until the house would not hold all, so we 
moved into the meeting-house. We had no desks, 
so we had to make out with the benches. I had 
nearly seventy enrolled, half the number almost 
grown. We had all kinds of books. There" were 
some very good scholars in arithmetic, geography, 
English grammar and mental arithmetic. It was 
more difficult to keep good order in a school seated 
as this one, than it would have been had we had 
good desks. We got along very well and the schol- 
ars learned very fast. I shall ever remember the 
good times we had at noon and recess playing the 
various plays. One girl named Lydia Burgess, 
could outrun any girl I ever saw. When she got to 
running after me I had all I could possibly do to 
keep out of her way. I called her a deer because 
she could run so fast. She was just as good a girl 
in school as she was to play — always had her les- 
sons well learned. Like Zaccheus of old, she was 
small of stature. We had a savage in this school ; 
he was savage to spell and read, and he was a large 
savage, full of fun and play. Eobert Carter, a very 
talented young man, and very genteel in his man- 
ners, always trying to learn something that would 
be of benefit and advantage to him, would often 
stay in at recess and noon and spend the time in 
storing his mind with useful knowledge. He is cal- 
culated to make his mark in the world, and if all 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 95 

scholars were like him teachers would never have 
any trouble. Mattie Burgess was a young woman 
of very amiable qualities ; she was similar to the 
one that I have just given. She was always trying 
to learn all she could. She was also very desirous 
to know the path of duty and to be found walking 
therein. Sarah Burgess was kind and good, but of 
a different turn of mind from Mattie ; desiring more 
to have her own way. Esther Burgess was one of 
those easy kind, always appearing as though she 
did not "care whether school kept or not." Fre- 
mont Burgess was always here and there, watching 
for the most fun and all that was to be seen. Hen- 
ry Mitchell was a young man who always wanted 
to do right, ever obedient and kind and everything 
always going right with him. Fanny Swope was 
a very good scholar ; she assisted me some ; quite 
apt in most of the branches ; quick here and yon- 
der and everywhere in a moment of time. Minerva 
Pearson was all the time one of those good kind of 
souls that never did anything wrong. I was always 
glad to see Minerva come to school. She was a 
kind of regulator among the children, always ready 
to do her part. I always like to have some of those 
kind in my school. Bhoda Pearson was of a quiet 
disposition. Jacen Easterling was a very energetic 
lad and was always quick to see a point ; he learned 
very fast and could make just about as much noise 
on the play grounds as ever I heard from any boy. 
Ella Carter was one of those reserved persons, would 
answer what was asked her but not much to talk 
herself. Will Mitchell was about the same. There 



'96 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

were quite a number of others that I could speak 
of. Jesse Carter was an excellent young man, one 
of those mild, peaceable youug men, who are natural- 
ly good and kind to all they meet. I always loved and 
admired him greatly. 

Our school progressed along finely. There was 
Emery Carter, that was but a boy ; Keylon Carter — 
some of the lambs. One of them was a very pert 
little fellow, but full of fun. Pearson, Minerva's 
brother, was a fine young man, always kind of an 
old man. Many others of the little folks I have not 
time nor space to speak of separately. There were 
two little girls named Hodson, and a little boy and 
girl named Shugart. Nearly a three month's term ; 
forty dollars per month. 

THE PRAISE MEETING OF THE FLOWERS. 

The flowers of many climates 
That bloom all season through, 

Met in a stately garden, 
Bright with the morning dew, 

For praise and loving worship — 
The Lord they came to meet. 

Her box of precious ointment 
The rose broke at his feet. 

"His word is like to honey," 

The clover testified, 
"And all who trust Thy promise, 

Shall in Thy love abide." 

"And let us follow Jesus," 

The star of Bethlehem said, 
And all the band of flowers 

Bent down with reverent head. 



a teacher's ups and downs. 97 

don't neglect the children. 

In thirty years from this time another set of 
men and women will fill the places that we occupy 
to-day. They will clothe thinking, talking and act- 
ing of the world instead of us. And who are to be 
the men and women that will occupy our places ? 
They are the children of the present day — the chil- 
dren who fill our schools, who cheev our homes, who 
roam our streets. 

If this is true, then these children should be ed- 
ucated in morals and religion. Our children will 
be educated whether we will or not. We may ne- 
glect them ; we may not put books into their hands ; 
they may never see inside of a school house ; they 
may receive no moral or religious training, but they 
will be educated. The every-day influence of home 
will leave its mark upon them ; it may be for good, 
or it may be for sin and misery. 

If parents neglect to give good instruction, both 
by precept and example, they are sure to receive 
that which is bad, and their places of resort will 
have a decided influence on their education. In 
places of resort, on the street among the low and 
vicious, they are likely to imbibe sentiments and to 
form habits that may last throughout life, and do 
much toward their weal or woe in another state. 
It was a sentiment much indulged in by certain 
would-be wise men, and, judging from common 
practice and general appearance, it is somewhat 
prevalent even to the present day, that children 
should not be biased or prejudiced by religious opin- 



98 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

ions, but should be allowed to arrive at the age of 
maturity, and then they will be able to judge for 
themselves, and of course make a wise choice. 
Now, this might have some show of truth if our na- 
tures were right and always run in a right direction ; 
but we are told in the Scriptures that "the heart 
of man is deceitful above all things ; " and again,, 
that "Light has come into the world, and men 
choose darkness rather than light, because their 
deeds are evil." And this evil is in the child as 
well as in the man of years. The evil tendencies 
are noticeable in very young children, and if they 
are not restrained, they will develop into rebellion 
and ruin. Indeed they go astray from their youth, 
and imbibe evil from their infancy. If properly re- 
strained, they may grow up to honor and revere 
their parents and to be honorable and useful mem- 
bers of society. But if left to run at large, as many 
children of the present day are, they are most likely 
to grow up to shame and infamy. 

Think, dear parents, what is to be the destiny of 
that darling boy on whom you dote to-day ? Is he 
to be a man of influence and honor? A man on. 
whom much of the weight of society will rest, and 
who bears manfully and cheerfully the responsibil- 
ities that rest upon him, or is he to be a loathesome 
tramp or sot, the shame of his parents and the 
dread of good people ? Much, very much depends 
on your present endeavors. You can do much to- 
ward bringing him up to honor, or you may neglect 
him and he may come to dishonor. Pray, then ;. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 99 



think seriously of the responsibility resting upon 
you, and act accordingly. 

Just one example among the many, to illustrate • 
The son of a rich man, liberally educated intellec- 
tually, was the hope of a fond father and the pride 
of a doting mother, but whose moral and religious 
training had been very much if not entirely ne- 
glected ; his whims and fancies were met, and, as 
far as the whims of such an individual could 'be 
were satisfied ; he was never taught to pray, to read 
the bible, or to observe the day of rest ; no pious ex- 
ample was set before him, and no attempt was 
made to restrain the evil tendencies of his nature. 
He graduated with some degree of honor, but, con- 
tinuing in his evil course, he soon became a bloated, 
haggard and careworn sot, and died an old man at 
twenty-five, the victim of strong drink and of brutal 
lust. Would you avert a fate like this for your dar- 
ling boy? Then avoid the rock on which he was 
stranded— neglect not his moral and religious train- 
ing. Every day you neglect your boy the harder it 
will be to treat his case successfully, for youth is the 
time when impressions are easily made. Spring- 
time does not last all the year. Quoting the words 
of another, " If you would have green and growing 
fields in the summer, ripened harvest in autumn, 
and rich stores for comfort and repose in winter,' 
good seed must be sown in the spring." 

Besides this, the influence of the Holy Spirit is 
more perceptible and more powerful in youth and 
early manhood than it is in more advanced years. 
Do you not remember, dear parents, far back in 



100 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

time of youth, the communings of the Spirit with 
your tender hearts, which if you have not heeded 
have become weakened by age, and if you have 
heeded them you see the importance of encourag- 
ing them in your children. And remember that you 
put forth no effort, and offer no prayer but it is 
seconded by the good Spirit. 

Now, if the present life was all we had to pre- 
pare for, we might with some degree of allowance 
be indifferent to the demands of society ; we might 
with some excuse say, " Let us eat, drink and be 
merry, for to-morrow we die." 

But our children's future destinies depend upon 
the present life. Then it is doubly important that 
they should be trained for that happiness reserved 
for the good in a future state of existence. A cer- 
tain writer, speaking of this subject, says: You 
may not rear up an apostle here, but you may rear 
up an angel hereafter. You may not see your child 
an object of admiration here, but you may see him 
stand among the redeemed at the right hand of God 
hereafter. 

Turn to your Bible, and in the law it is written : 
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart and with all thy soul ; and these words shall 
be in thy heart and thou shalt teach them diligently 
to thy children, and thou shalt talk of them when 
thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest by 
the way, when thou liest down and when thou risest 
up." And in the days of the Kings we have it : 
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and 
when he is old he will not depart from it." And in 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 101 



the Apostolic time: "And, fathers, provoke not 
your children to wrath, but bring them up in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord." Thus God 
has spoken and this is His will ; and I believe when 
parents appreciate the Lord's will on this subject, 
and carry out His provisions, "Then shall our sons 
be as plants grown up in their youth, and our 
daughters be as corner-stones polished after the 
similitude of a palace." 

Short is our time here below ; let us do good as 
much as we can for our fellow men. 

In the spring of 1871 I moved with my family to 
Jasper county, Missouri, and settled near Alba, a 
small village. During this summer I worked at my 
trade, plastering and stone work. This fall, Thomas 
H. Hill, Erasmus Folger, Samuel Weeks, and sev- 
eral others, wanted me to teach their school. The 
name of the school was " Garden Dell." Now I had 
come to another State, I had to be examined here 
also. J. W. Jacobs was elected this fall for County 
Examiner. I went to Carthage and was examined, 
with several other teachers. This examination was 
a little different from that of Kansas. I got along 
very well, got a certificate, and commenced my 
school about the first of 11th monthJ The school 
house was a frame building, with threes-windows on 
each side, a blackboard across one end of the room, 
and was seated with patent desks. The house was 
not more than fifteen feet wide by eighteen or twenty 
feet long. The pupils kept crowding in until we 
had sixty-five or seventy enrolled ; some of the desks 



102 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

had as many as four to a desk. My school was a 
four months term, and we got along very well. The 
district paid me forty dollars and the employers five 
dollars per month. In Missouri, teac hers can re- 
ceive their pay at the end of each month ; ft was not 
so in other States where I had taught. There were 
quite a number of young people attended this school. 
Emma Fries was the oldest, I believe. She was a 
noble young lady ; one of those go-ahead girls, kind 
and good, and always in a good humor. She stud- 
ied very hard, improved every moment of time, and 
always had her lessons well learned. She stored 
her mind with useful knowledge. Lucy Fries was 
the best acquainted with her studies of any of them ; 
quick to understand any demonstration, always full 
of fun, and ready for study or play. She was a 
good, christian girl, very apt and ready to help the 
little folks with their work. She is one that will 
make her mark in the world ; she would make a 
good teacher, if she applied her abilities in that 
direction. Eusebia Folger could beat any person 
laughing that I nearly ever heard, and it seemed to 
do her so much good. No one could have the blues 
long where she was ; and she was also very attentive 
to her studies. Linnie Fries was a good, pleasant 
young woman ; she took great pains to qualify her- 
self for school teaching, and was always kind and 
pleasant to all whom she met. Jennie Christy was 
a singing-bird, and she was not very slow on the 
laugh, either. I was always glad to see Jennie come 
to school, for I knew then we would have some 
songs. She would once in awhile peep around at 



A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 103 

Frank Weeks ; thinks I to myself, she is setting her 
stakes very well. She would kind of shy about, and 
■seemed not to pay any attention to him, but I could 
read. Frank Weeks was a very noble young man, 
with very amiable qualities ; he was full of sport 
and play. Frank studied hard, and learned very 
fast. We had a play called " steal goods " ; there 
were two bases, with a line drawn about six feet 
from them and between them. Those of one side 
w r ould jump across the line and steal the other's 
sticks, without getting caught. Frank was the chief 
man in this game ; very quick and active, he would 
get sticks very fast. There was another play, very 
familiarly known as " crack the whip." 

I noticed one day they made a whip cracker of 
Emma Fries. In a little while they got her to going 
so fast that I thought she would get hurt, but she did 
not. I never would let them play this much, for it 
was dangerous sport. There was Abbie Hair, a 
very good girl, easy, kind and quiet ; Frank Stout 
was a real staver ; Katie Stout was a wild piece of 
humanity for fun and mischief, very pleasant to 
have in school ; Stephen Hendricks was very at- 
tentive to his lessons, and tried to learn all that he 
possibly could. Will Hendricks one day was scared 
as nigh to death as any person I ever saw : he had 
been doing some mischief, and was cutting up ; I 
left the room and walked some fifty or sixty steps 
east of the building, where I usually hitched my 
horse, where a few days previous I had left a nice 
little switch ; this I picked up and walked back into 
the house ; everything was as quiet as death ; Will 



104 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



Hendricks was as white as he ever will be in this 
world. I said not a word about any disorder, but 
went on with the school as if nothing had happened. 
Sometimes a teacher will find that to get ready to 
whip answers the purpose as well as whipping ; it 
did in this case. 

Eliza Johnson was one of those naturally good 
girls, whose conduct was worthy of one much old- 
er ; Mattie Weeks another good girl ; Mattie Folger 
the same : Johnny Johnson was full of fun ; Isaac, 
his brother, was as pert as a cricket, wide awake, 
with a large bunch of mischief wrapped up in him ; 
Oliver Christie was a pleasant fellow to have about, 
and studied well. There were many others whom 
I would like to speak of, but time and space will not 
permit me. 

During this winter a few of us held a series of 
meetings at Fairview meeting-house, which proved 
a source of great blessing to those of us who par- 
ticipated, and was the means of leading many from 
nature's darkness to its most marvelous light ; we 
held but one noon-day meeting, for prayer and con- 
ference, which was greatly enjoyed by all present. 
One morning I read the Bible lesson and offered up 
prayer, as usual, and in a few moments Emma 
Fries knelt and made a most earnest and fervent 
supplication to the throne of mercy ; the Spirit of 
the Lord was most powerfully felt on this occasion, 
and it was a long time before I could return to the 
duties of the day. The whole school was moved to 
tears, and just as I thought I could hear a class, 
some one would break down, and I would have to 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 105' 



wait. It was a scene never to be forgotten by those 
who were present. 

Our school progressed splendidly to the close of 
the term, and the examination, which was attended 
by many of the parents and friends, showed that 
good work had been done by pupils and teacher. 
I never knew until that evening how much I loved 
the young people of Garden Dell, and often in our 
journey through life will many of us look back with 
pleasant remembrance of the many happy hours 
spent in Garden Dell school bouse. 

May peace and happiness be the portion of each 
one of the pupils that attended this my eighteenth 
term of school. 

FOOTPEINTS OP DEITY. 

A Frenchman who had won a high rank among 
men of science, yet denied the God who is the au- 
thor of all science, was crossing the great Sahara 
in company with an Arab guide. He noticed with a 
sneer that at certain times his guide, whatsoever 
obstacles might arise, put them all aside, and 
kneeling on the burning sands, called on his God. 
Day after day passed, and still the Arab never 
failed, till at last one evening the philosopher, when 
he rose from his knees, asked him, with a contemp- 
tuous smile, "How do you know there is a God?" 
The guide fixed his beaming eyes on the scoffer for 
a moment in wonder, and then said solemnly : 
" How do I know there is a God? How do I know 
that a man, and not a camel, passed my hut last 
night in the darkness ? Was it not by the print of 



106 A TEACTIEE's UPS AND DOWNS. 

his feet in the sand? Even so," and he pointed to 
the sun, whose last rays were flashing over the 
lonely desert, " that footprint is not that of a man." 
" The heavens declare the glory of God, and 
the firmament showeth his handiwork ; day unto 
day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth 
knowledge." — Psalm xix: 1. 

Grief banished by wine will come again, 

And come with a deeper shade; 
Leaving, perchance, on the soul a stain 

Which sorrow hath never made. 
Then fill not the tempting glass for me — 

If mournful, I will not be mad ; 
Better sad because we sinful be, 

Than sinful because we are sad. 

FOUND IN THE SNOW. 

How the wind did roar through the old pines 
that dark winter ! How it came in great waves of 
sound, crashing against the mossy trunks, then 
shivering into many little echos among the light, 
feathery sprays of foliage, like the surf upon the 
beach. And how the snow came down in huge 
white clowds, wrapping the trees till they all stood 
out in long white robes that swept the ground ! It 
was a bad night for anyone to try to keep the foot- 
path that threaded the pines beyond the village, 
and for Tom Lawton it was just an impossibility. 
Poor Tom ! He had his one great fault. None 
knew that better than Jerry Eansom, at whose 
noisy, dirty bar Tom had stood up that day and 
hiccoughed over his liquors. He was trying now 



A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 107 

to make his way through the woods. Poor Tom ! 
He staggered and stumbled as if a mad wind were 
whirling around in his brain. He was growing cold- 
er. The snow storm seemed to be making its way 
into his heart and chilling it. At last he pitched 
heavily, fell — and the storm went on. 

Day broke over the little village. The smoke 
curled up in light wreaths from the chimneys. 
Tom, though, had not gone home. " Where is 
Tom? " at last one asked another. "0, he'll turn 
up," they said. But no Tom showed himself; 
wherever he was, he kept the secret to himself, and 
the wind that whistled through the pines told no 
tales. Anxiety was felt by and by — : ' What if Tom 
has been lost in the storm ! " was the uneasy suspi- 
cion aroused. 

A group went out to search the woods ; as one 
nears their borders, he conies upon an open space 
where the trees are scattered : "We went through it 
one bright sunny day ; there," said our companion, 
" we found Tom there." And sure enough, as they 
were pushing through the snow, one of them struck 
with his foot a heavy, buried mass — was it a fallen 
trunk ? He stooped, raised it, and the face of dead 
Tom, white as the snow that half covered it, stared 
at him. They carried the body of Tom to his old 
home ; they dressed it for the grave ; they laid it in 
the plain pine coffin on the kitchen table ; the 
neighbors gathered, the minister came, and the last 
farewell words that we say over our dead were 
spoken. There were tears shed ; there were forms 
bowed in black. A stranger going by might have 



108 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

said it was an ordinary funeral ; but every one 
there knew that rum had frozen Torn in the forest, 
rum had wrapped him in his winding sheet, and 
now, through rum, he was about to be laid away in 
the grave forever. 

A LAMP TO THY FEET. 

A lamp to thy feet— not a splendor, 

Lighting the hills afar; 
Not radience, solemn and tender, 

Of moonlight; or glimmer of star. 
All around may be shrouded in shadow 

And dimness and mist of the night; 
But be it o'er mountain or meadow, 

Before us the path shall be light. 

For His locks are wet with the night dews, 

His feet are bleeding and torn, 
As, weax*y under our burden, 

He treads in our pathway the thorn. 
Though His lamp light one step, and one only, 

There's the mark of His foot in the sod ; 
Though the way be thorny and lonely, 

It ends in the bosom of God. 

Great minds, like heaven, are pleased in doing 
good, though the ungrateful subjects of their favor 
are barren in return. 

The fall and winter of 1872-73, I taught my 
nineteenth term of school at Union School, No. 2, 
one mile west of Alba, Jasper county, Missouri. 
The school was held in the Friends' meeting house. 
We had no desks ; we used the seats, and it was 
very unhandy, as books were liable to get misplaced. 
1 was examined this fall by U. B. Webster. He was 



A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 109 

very much of a gentleman. He visited every school 
in the county, and reported through the county 
papers the condition of each school. Every teacher 
was anxious to hear from the other teachers, and 
this made it nice for all. This was a four months 
term, at forty-five dollars per month. There were 
quite a number of young men and women attended 
this school. Lucy Stith, a young woman, attended ; 
she was very reserved, easy dashed, yet was very 
attentive to her studies ; was very easy to laugh, 
but not much for play. Eva Purcel was another 
young lady who was not quite so easily plagued ; she 
nearly always had an answer for every one who said 
anything to her. I always liked to see Eva come to 
school ; she studied hard, and tried to learn all she 
possibly could. Jim Purcel, a young man who was 
always prying into everything, to see if there was 
anything to be learned from it. There was always 
considerable mischief in Jim's eyes. Dan Purcel 
was considerable of an old man, or seemed very 
much that way. There was a great deal of dry fun 
about him, and he and Jim were excellent spellers. 
Lindley Street was very attentive to his studies, and 
tried hard to learn all he possibly could that would 
be of any benefit to him. Jacob Shelton was a very 
steady young man; paid close attention to his 
books, and was very anxious to get all the informa- 
tion he possibly could. Charley McCashland was 
a good boy at school ; very quiet, and studied hard. 
Eletcher Stith, jr., was a very good boy at school, 
but some of his studies were hard for him to under- 
stand ; yet he done what he could. 



110 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

My school progressed very well. The winter was 
quite cold ; we had some spelling schools to good 
satisfaction. There were many others attended 
this school whom I might speak of. Mattie Mc- 
Cashland attended part of this term; she was a 
good pupil, and very willing to obey all orders of the 
school. Amanda McFaren, a good young woman, 
was also at this school. Lucinda Moon was a very 
fine young woman, who attended this term ; she was 
a very attentive and good pupil, and was better ac- 
quainted with the various studies than any of tho 
other scholars. She was a good speller and reader, 
and very good in arithmetic, geography, etc. Dutch 
Worley, a very kind young man, attended this term. 
Hiram Moon was one of the directors, and he per- 
formed his part very well. We had some very nice 
times playing ball and base, and various other plays 
common on the school grounds. My school was 
very quiet and orderly ; my rule was, no talking. I 
done my own watching ; I never fancied the idea of 
leaving the pupils to report. While some of them 
would report correctly, there were quite a number 
who would not. I have often noticed that when 
we, as teachers, thought everything now will run 
right, that then was the time to watch, because 
there were sure to be breakers ahead. All of my 
pupils this winter learned as fast as I could have 
wished. They were all very good to obey all orders. 
It is often, as the teacher is so will the school be ; 
our schools are what we make them. A teacher 
should be lively and jolly; keep everything bright 
and full of life, if he or she wants their school to 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. Ill 

move along smoothly. Our school closed to good 
satisfaction. 

Skepticism has never founded empires, estab- 
lished principalities, nor changed the world in heart. 
The great doers in history have always been men of 
faith. 

TRIP THROUGH KANSAS. 

These are some of the thoughts penned while on 
a religious visit to the meetings belonging to Kansas 
Yearly Meeting, in company with Samuel Weeks, 
in the summer of 1872. We left home on Sixth-day. 
in the 7th month of this year, and went to Spring 
River Monthly Meeting, on Seventh-day ; had a fa- 
vored time at this meeting from the Lord. Took 
dinner with Cyrus W. Harvey, First-day ; went to 
Timbered Hills First-day school, also attended their 
meeting. I was much favored to speak from this 
text : "The grace of God that brings salvation hath 
appeared unto all men." In the afternoon, we at- 
tended meeting at Spring River again ; a precious 
season. Stayed all night at Levi Branson's. On 
Second-day we went in company with Clark Beeson 
and Charity, his wife, over to Lightning Creek, a 
meeting about fifteen miles west of Timbered Hills. 
Got to David Cope's for dinner ; had meeting at two 
o'clock, and felt the power of the Lord to be with 
us. Stayed all night at John Pickering's ; Third- 
day we started in company with David Cope for 
Elk River. Fourth-day it rained very hard ; Elk 
River was about sixty-five miles west of Lightning 
Creek. We stayed all night, Fourth-day night, at 



112 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

BatcliffHobson's, just north of Independence, Mont- 
gomery county, Kansas. Fifth-day, visited David 
Hodson's family ; attended an appointed meeting at 
Elk Eiver, which was a very refreshing season from 
the Lord. Took dinner at Simon Hadley's ; in the 
afternoon we visited six families, and stayed Fifth- 
day night with John W. Engle. Sixth- day morn- 
ing, visited some more families, and then attended 
an appointed meeting at the house of James Moon ; 
took dinner with his family, and then went to Inde- 
pendence, where we had a meeting with Friends at 
the house of William Davis, at four o'clock. At 
night we held a meeting at a large hall in the city ; 
a great many people were in attendance. 

Seventh-day morning we took the train at Inde- 
pendence for Emporia, Lyon County, Kansas, about 
seventy-five miles north of here. Got to Emporia 
about five o'clock in the evening, and stopped over 
night at the house of Caleb Stratton. He and his 
wife were living by themselves. They were both 
very old. Attended the meeting First-day, in 
town, at seven o'clock. The Lord aided me in 
speaking from the text : " What ailest thou, thou 
sea, that thou necldest the Jordan — that thou wast 
driven back." 

Went to Cottonwood, about five miles from Em- 
poria, to meeting, at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
Samuel Weeks was much favored by the Lord to 
speak to the people. Second-day we visited ; after 
visiting thirteen families, we stopped for the night 
at Andrew Hinshaw's. Third-clay visited fifteen 
families, and stayed all night at John Moore's, and 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 113 

had a favored time with them. They were two aged 
people, and Samuel was much led to exhort them to 
he faithful to the end of their journey. Fourth- day 
we went to Neosho Meeting ; spoke from the text 
" If the righteous scarcely be saved., where shall 
the ungodly and sinner appear?" Samuel spoke 
very much to the encouragement of us all at this 
meeting. Took dinner at William Harvey's, then 
visited some families. We also visited a Kaw In- 
dian village. They looked quite odd in their huts, 
made of bark ; their large council-house was also 
made of bark. The Indians, painted and wrapped 
in their blankets, looked quite odd to me. They 
were having a war-dance, as they had just returned 
from a hunt in which they had had a fight with 
some other Indians. They looked very warlike. 
We came back and stayed all night at Thomas Stan- 
ley's. He has been with the Indians a great deal ; 
he likes them, and they like him. 

We had been traveling for several days with 
Benjamin Pickett. On Fifth-day morning we made 
a change and took Azil Eush, and went to Vernon 
Meeting. This meeting was held at John Ham- 
mer's dwelling. At this meeting I spoke from the 
words : " Blessed are they which do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." 
What a blessed promise this is to one who is hun- 
gry and thirsty ! What comfort and encouragement 
we may all get from this text ! Samuel spoke very 
much to the purpose in this meeting. In the even- 
ing at seven o'clock we had another meeting, in the 

school house, near to John Hammer's. It was a 
s 



114 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

largely attended meeting, and a very precious one 
to all of us. Samuel spoke from the words : "Wait 
on the Lord." He was highly favored. I spoke a 
few words from the text, "What must I do to be 
saved?" A warm and heavenly feeling pervaded 
this meeting. Went home with John Moore ; his 
wife was Melissa M. Hills' daughter, and of course 
we must stop there over night, it seemed so home- 
like. 

Sixth- day went with Jonathan Parker and wife 
to Toledo meeting, and found but few present ; held 
the meeting in the school house. Samuel spoke 
from the text "Where there are two or three gath- 
ered together in My name, there am I in the midst 
of them." I spoke a few words. Mary P. Moon 
made a very able and powerful prayer, and spoke 
a few words for the encouragement of us all. Went 
to Azil Kush's for dinner. 

We had now visited all the meetings of Cotton- 
wood Quarterly Meeting except Dragoon Prepara- 
tive. We both felt clear thus far. The prayer of 
our hearts was, that He might lead and guide us 
the balance of our journey. Vernon meeting was 
the liveliest meeting we had attended thus far in 
this quarter. Sixth-day night we stopped with Ben- 
jamin Pickett. Seventh-day morning, Benjamin 
and his wife, Samuel and I, started for Dragoon 
meeting, in Waubunsee county, Kansas, about forty 
miles northeast of Emporia. The country through 
which we passed was very thinly settled ; the most 
of the land was owned by speculators. About dark 
we reached Enoch Carter's. First-day morning I 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 115 



awoke with the desire in my heart that I might 
leave all things in the hands of the Lord, who doeth 
all things well. We went to First-day school and 
meeting ; spoke from these words : " If ye love me, 
keep my commandments." These words, as we 
learned afterwards, were very much adapted to the 
condition of this meeting. In the afternoon, we met 
with a committee from Cottonwood Monthly Meet- 
ing, on the request of Dragoon for a Monthly Meet- 
ing. Stayed all night with Joseph Stubbs. 

I suffered all night with a gathering in my jaw. 
Second-day, my jaw was no better. Samuel visited 
several families, all to good satisfaction; had a 
meeting at four o'clock, which was indeed a melting 
season, and we felt that the Lord was in our midst. 
May His name have all the praise. 

Third-day morning felt some better, and started 
to go to Topeka with Joseph Stubbs ; arrived there 
about one o'clock, too late for the train to go to 
Lawrence ; stopped all night with Joseph Lawrence. 
Fourth-day took the train for Lawrence, arriving 
there about seven o'clock ; took breakfast at Alfred 
Lindley's, then went to their regular meeting, a 
small one, very poorly attended. I felt like having 
another meeting in the evening. Took dinner at 
Washington Hadley's; after dinner he took his 
carriage and showed us all over the city ; we visited 
the State University, and went up to the top of 
the building, where we had a fine view of the 
surrounding country; we then visited the new 
Yearly Meeting House. There was a large attend- 
ance at our meeting in the evening, and I spoke 



116 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

from the words : "As the mountains are around 
about Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about His 
people, from henceforth and forever." I was much 
favored in this meeting ; the Lord pointed with His 
finger. How good the Master is to some of us 
poor creatures ! Spent the night at the house of 
George Lindley, an old acquaintance of mine in In- 
diana, and had a very pleasant time with him and 
his wife. 

Fifth- day morning took the train for Tonganoxie, 
which I reached in time for their regular meeting. 
Quite a large meeting. Samuel and I spoke some. 
There seemed to be a cloud over the meeting, from 
some cause unknown to us. Met with some old 
friends ; we went to Ezra King's for dinner. He was 
a man to be pitied. He had lost the use of his lower 
limbs some two or three years before this, but was 
quite cheerful and happy. Stayed that night with 
Philemon Jones, another old Indiana friend. 

Sixth-day, Philemon Jones took us to Spring 
Dale to meeting. We traveled over some very 
rough country. Meeting had been set a few min- 
utes when we got there ; had a good time. Went to 
Jonathan Haworth's from meeting, and took dinner 
with them. After dinner, John Stewart took us to 
Leavenworth, quite a large city. Stopped with 
Moses Harvey, in the outskirts of the city ; after 
supper, went to meeting. Samuel prayed very feel- 
ingly. I spoke from the words of our Savior : 
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
God." Samuel also spoke very much to the encour- 
agement of us all. They have a very fine meeting 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 117 

house here. Seventh-day we went to Fairmount 
meeting, about ten miles from Leavenworth. Wil- 
liam Gr. Coffin and wife eame here with us ; he 
had just returned from a trip to England to get 
money to aid in building the new Yearly Meeting- 
house at Lawrence. He gave us some account of 
the Muller Orphan's Home, in Bristol, England, 
which he visited while there. There were two thou- 
sand and fifty-three children in the Home at tils 
time. They had eight large stone buildings, four 
stories high. Believing and trusting in the Lord, 
he never lacks for anything to carry on his work, 
all by prayer and faith. He commenced without a 
dollar in the world ; the Lord has been with him. 
We had an excellent meeting to-day at Fairmount. 
I spoke from these words : "Now, faith is the sub- 
stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things 
not seen. " 

I went to Samuel Coffin's for dinner, and had a 
pleasant time indeed. We started about four 
o'clock for Tonganoxie, and got to John Stewart's 
a little after dark, Seventh-day. Went to First-day 
school and meeting ; they have a large and flourish- 
ing Sabbath school here at Tonganoxie ; about one 
hundred in attendance ; large meeting to-day. I 
spoke from these words ; "If the righteous scarcely 
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner 
appear." I was much favored, and the Lord's won- 
derful power was felt in our midst. Samuel also 
spoke very much to the point. Took dinner with 
Ezra King, and then went with Thomas Nicholson 
to Hesper, crossed the Kaw river in a ferry-boat 



118 A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

and got to Thomas Harris' about dark. Had a 
meeting appointed for Second-day at four o'clock. 
We had a large meeting ; these were the words that 
I spoke from: "They that trust in the Lord shall 
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed but 
abideth forever." Stayed all night with Nathan and 
Lydia Hinshaw, she being an old schoolmate of 
mine in Indiana. Third- day, had a meeting at 
Center ; a very good little meeting ; this text : "The 
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to them 
that believe." A very peaceful and quiet feeling 
pervaded this meeting. Took dinner with David 
Vestal, then went to John Stubbs' to hold a meet- 
ing, he being helpless on the bed of affliction, more 
caused, I think, because he would not do his duty ; 
a very precious time. He thinks if he ever gets up 
again he will be more faithful. We had a meeting 
that night at Stephen Stubbs', several people being 
in attendance ; a favored time. These were the 
words of the text : "What must I do to be saved?" 
Stayed all night at Stephen Stubbs', or rather Joel 
Charles'. Fourth-day we went in company with 
Nathan Hinshaw and Joel Charles to Lane, about 
forty miles south of Hesper. We traveled over some 
very rough country to-day ; took dinner a little 
south of Eock creek. We then crossed the Pota- 
wotomie river and stopped at a little town called 
Lane, with Washington Wasson; got supper and 
rested well all night ; took breakfast with Solomon 
Hunt and wife — they are very old people and are 
living good and happy lives. Fifth-day, parted with 
our friends. Joel Charles and Nathan Hinshaw ; 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 119 

their company was very acceptable to us. This is 
a very beautiful morning, and my thoughts have 
often turned to the loved ones at home. 

Attended the meeting at Lane to-day, at eleven 
•o'clock ; had a pleasant time, though not many pres- 
ent. This was my text: "Present your bodies a 
living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto the Lord, 
which is your reasonable service." Samuel also 
spoke some, to the building up of all in the most 
holy faith. The Lord's power was very forcibly felt 
in our midst. A melting season it was, and many 
were enabled to renew their covenant with the Lord 
and Master. Had meeting this afternoon at four 
o'clock — a funeral just before meeting. Samuel 
was much favored. This was my text in meeting : 
"Let us come boldly unto a throne of grace, that 
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time 
of need." I stopped over night with Allen Ha worth. 
Sixth-day morning, started for home. Got to Cher- 
okee, a town in Crawford county, Kansas, about 
five o'clock in the afternoon. Samuel's folks were 
here waiting — a joyful time to them. We had a 
meeting to-night in the school building in Cherokee. 
The Lord's power was felt to the comfort and build- 
ing up of us all. We have now visited nearly all 
the established meetings in the State of Kansas, 
find so I feel like giving God all the praise, glory 
and honor, for the wonderful goodness He has man- 
ifested unto us poor, weak mortals of the dust. I 
reached home, and found all well. Praise the Lord ! 



120 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

HONOR OLD AGE. 

Bow low the head, boy ; do reverence to the old 
man as he passes along. Once like you, the vicis- 
situdes of life have silvered the hair and changed 
the round face to the worn visage before you. Once 
that heart beat with aspirations coequal to any you 
have felt ; aspirations crushed by disappointment, 
as yours are perhaps destined to be. Once that 
form stalked proudly through the gay scenes of 
pleasure, the beau ideal of pleasure ; now the hand 
of Time, that withers the flowers of yesterday, has 
warped the figure and destroyed that noble carriage. 
Once, at your age, he had the thousand thoughts 
that pass through your brain — now wishing to ac- 
complish something worthy in fame ; anon, imagin- 
ing life a dream that the sooner he awoke from the 
better. But he has lived the dream nearly through. 
The time to awake is very near at hand ; yet his eye 
kindles at old deeds of daring, and his hand takes 
a firmer grip of his staff. Bow low the head, boy, 
as you would in your old age be reverenced. 

SHUT THE GATE. 

Boys, shut the gate after you. You are going 
through to be gone just a little while ; you look 
around, and not seeing anything likely to enter, you 
think you will save a little time by leaving it until 
you return. So you drive along, and get about half 
way through your job, when up come the colts, at- 
tracted by the sight of your team. Seeing the gate 
open, they dash through, and away they go for a 
scamper through the garden or fields, as the case 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 121 

may be. You shout at them and call the dog. He 
comes rushing upon the scene, and takes after them 
with evident delight. If you are a very prudent 
boy, you first hitch your team to the fence, and then 
run after the dog and colts. By this time the old 
sow, that can smell an open gate a quarter of a mile 
away, no matter which way the wind is blowing, 
has come up, and in she goes with her whole pro- 
geny. Now you get mad, and call the dog away 
from the colts and set bim after the pigs. The 
hired man hears the uproar and comes to the res- 
cue. He follows the colts, and as they come tear- 
ing along past the horses, they pull at their halters 
and down tumbles two or three rods of fence. You 
are extremely lucky if they do not run away and 
upset the wagon. By this time your mother comes 
into the melee ; she has sense enough to drive the 
dog to the house, and by her intelligent help the 
field is finally cleared, and order restored. 

Probably you can earn enough in a week to pay 
for the damage that is done, and it might all have 
been prevented by just one minute spent in shutting 
the gate after you. I will venture the opinion that 
if there had been an accurate account kept since 
creation, of the amount saved or lost by not shut- 
ting the gate promptly after it was used, the loss 
would exceed the gain by enough to put a new gate 
on every farm in the United States. I have known 
boys, and even men, to have just about the experi- 
ence I have described, over and over again, and yet 
they never seem to learn the economy and security 
there is in promptly shutting the gate after them. 



122 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

WHAT IS EARTH ? 

What is earth, sexton? 

A place to dig graves. 
What is earth, rich man? 

A place to work slaves. 
What is earth, grey-beard? 

A place to grow old. 
What is earth, miser? 

A place to dig gold. 
What is earth, school-boy? 

A place for my play. 
What is earth, widow? 

A place of true sorrow: 
What is earth, sailor? 

My home is the sea. 
What is earth, christian? 

The gateway to heaven. 

My twentieth term of school was taught in the 
Indian Territory, at the Wyandotte Mission. I 
went there about the first of the 3d month, 1873. 
I was teacher and general manager. I went from 
home down to the Agency, and the agent took me 
to the Mission. We got there about eleven o'clock. 
The children were all down in the school room. 
The object in taking me to the school room was 
that the children and I might become acquainted 
with each other, which we quickly did. I talked 
with them a little while, and soon had them in a 
high state of merriment. 

The children that attended this school mission 
were Wyandotte, Shawnee and Senecas. They were 
kept right here all the time, except once in a while 
when they were privileged to go home by the man- 
ager. When the children went to the dining room 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 123 



that day, one of the ladies asked George Jemison, 
a Seneca, how he liked the new teacher. " Teach- 
er whip George, " he said. " 0, no, he will not," 
said the lady, " Teacher good and kind, and will not 
whip George if he is good." " Ah, he will whip 
George," said the boy. About a month later the 
lady said "Well, George, teacher has not whipped 
you yet, has he?" "No," said he, "but he will 
whip George." A short time afterward, as George 
was leaving the dinner table, he deliberately spit 
upon each of the plates as he passed out. The 
matron came to the hall door and told me what had 
been done. By this time he was out in the yard. 
I just stepped to the hall door and said, "here, 
George, we will go down to the school house." He 
understood what was up. When we got down to 
the school house I just took down a gad that I kept 
there for the purpose of dressing down those fellows 
who did not walk up to the chalk line. I gave him 
a complete tanning. He cried quite lively for a 
while. I asked him if he would ever spit on the 
the plates that way again. He said no. When he 
went back up to the house Jennie said, "Well, 
George, teacher did whip you, did he ? " Ah, me 
know he whip George." " How did you know it, 
George?" "Me see whip in his eyes." Jennie 
laughed at me a great deal, because they could see 
the whip in my eye. George was one of the best 
boys in the school after that. 

I would say right here that the Indians read by 
the eye. I commenced teaching the next day after 
I got there. It was odd work to me — I had never 



124 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

done anything of the kind in my life. We all lived 
here as one family ; it was one school from four 
o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock at night. I 
had to be the last one to go to bed always. Some 
of the little chaps wanted to run off, and if they got 
out of sight they would. They had been in the 
habit of runniDg off, both the young men and the 
young women. The man who was there before me, 
was bothered very much. I told the children I would 
not stand any bother with them running off, and if 
there was any running off, there would be a settle- 
ment. After I had been there a few days, the head 
chief of the Wyandottes was taken sick. The In- 
dians believe in witches. The chief's wife said one 
night that she heard the witches coming, and she 
awakened the chief, and he got up and built a fire. 
They say if they build a fire the witches will leave. 
In a few nights the witches came again, and she 
woke him up and he again built a fire. In a few 
nights she heard the witches coming again, but she 
did not wake him until they had bewitched him. 
In a few days he died. 

The Indians are divided into what are called 
clans. The children are named after the clan of 
the mother. Among the Wyandottes there are the 
Turtle, Little Turtle, Deer, Fox, and various other 
clans. It is a custom among them that when one of 
a clan dies, the men of his clan bury him. It seem- 
ed that there were but two or three little boys left 
of the clan of the chief, so the council had to ap- 
point members of other clans to assist at the fune- 
ral. It was a large funeral. Many Indians were 



TEACHEK's UPS AND DOWNS. 125 



there. Governor Walker spoke at the funeral. 
He was a Wyandotte Indian. He was once govern- 
or of Kansas and Nebraska, while they were terri- 
tories. He talked well. After he finished I spoke 
for a few minutes, the governor acting as interpreter 
for me. After a solemn pause, we all went home. 
There were several funerals this spring, chiefly of 
the older people, and I was often called on to ad- 
dress the people on these occasions, always, how- 
ever, with the assistance of an interpreter, for the 
Indians insisted on having everything spoken inter- 
preted to them. John W. Grayeys and my old 
friend George Wright were good interpreters. 

I held meeting every Sabbath in the school 
house, in which the children appeared to be much 
interested! One young man was in the habit of com- 
mitting to memory from five to seven chapters of 
the New Testament every week which he would re- 
peat to me in the Sabbath school. 

The most difficult part of my work was to teach 
them the English language ; it was a hard matter 
to teach them even a letter. I always had to have 
a little boy or girl to act as interpreter. I have had 
as many as thirty-five in my card class, all the way 
from five to thirty years of age. I have asked some 
of them questions over and over, and had them 
stand and stare me right in the face, and never 
crack a smile. There was one young woman by the 
name of Susan Bearskin who was conspicuous for 
this ; I could never persuade her to answer any of 
my questions. An Iowa man who visited the 
Agency, said it was necessary for a teacher to have 



126 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

a large store of patience and charity always in re- 
serve to draw from. 

After I got them so they could spell in one sylla- 
ble, there was no more trouble. One peculiar fea- 
ture I noticed in these people was, they seldom if 
ever make any mistakes in emphasis or inflection ; 
they seem to acquire a correct idea of these natur- 
ally. 

Our white children are taught too much baby 
talk when they are young, and the teacher finds it 
harder to unlearn them, than to teach them in the 
first place. I never saw children learn to read so fast 
after they had learned to spell, as these Indians 
did. They learn to talk very much by motions and 
gestures. The children loved to sing, and enjoyed 
our evening meetings very much. There was one 
little Seneca Indian whom I had to hold every even- 
ing, while going from the school house to the board- 
ing house, to keep him from running away. If I 
ever forgot him, he was sure to run away. One 
night he succeeded in getting out of sight, and 
though strict and diligent search was made in and 
about the mission, he was nowhere to be found. 
Next morning at day break he appeared at the door 
of his father's house, some five miles distant. One 
day he hid out under some brush, like an old turkey 
hen hiding her nest. 

As I have said, there were Wyandotte, Shawnee 
and Senecas at the mission, and we had to exercise 
care to get children of the same tribe together in 
bed, for if children of different tribes were put to- 
gether, there was sure to be a fight. For this rea- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 127 

son I had to be the last to go to bed ; I usually 
■waited till all was quiet, and then retired. One 
night I went down to my room and laid down with 
my clothes on, leaving the doors open between us ; 
I had scarcely laid down, when I heard a terrible 
racket amongst the boys. I knew in a minute that 
some of them were fighting. I hurried up stairs ; 
by this time there was a general outcry of " give it 
to him ! give it to him ! " As soon as I could reach 
the bedside I said, " yes, give it to him." Instantly 
all was as still as death. I just made one grab and 
caught one of them ; I hauled him out of bed and 
paddled him nicely ; when I got through with him 
I let him go, and then said, Jeff, where are you ? 
" Here I am." He was out of bed, and crouching 
behind me. I made one grab and caught him by 
the top of the head, and dragging him up, I gave 
him a very nice warming. "Now, boys," said I, 
" get back into bed ; and if I hear any more noise 
to-night, I will get a gad, and wear it out on you." 
A man who was engaged in breaking prairie slept 
above, and he told me next morning that they could 
not have been more quiet, the remainder of the 
night, if they had all been shot. This disturbance 
was caused by putting a Wyandotte and Seneca in 
the same bed. 

There was a gentleman in the neighborhood who 
had accompanied John C. Fremont on his trip to 
California, in 1849, and his description of the jour- 
ney, and the privations endured by the men, was 
most terrible. He said they became so reduced as 
to be forced to kill and eat their mules, drinking 



128 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

the blood and eating the flesh, and toward the last 
were obliged to subsist on buckskin gloves, and 
thought these quite a luxury. After many weary 
months of hardship and starvation, they reached 
California, so weak and emaciated as to be scarcely 
able to lift a chair from the floor. They had to be 
fed a spoonful of mush and milk at a time, until 
they were able to eat more without danger to their 
lives. This gentleman told me no one who had not 
been starved, could have any conception of the 
suffering endured. 

I spent five months very pleasantly with the In- 
dians. The Wyandottes named me ; they always 
named everyone who came among them. My name 
was Te-ya-we-da-ya, meaning two islands, or rocks. 
We had in the school Ida Mudeater, Elizabeth 

Choplog, Splitlog, Susan Bearskin, Susan 

Swahas, and many other odd names. 

All the Indian children like to smoke, and when 
they go home they usually bring back a pipe and 
tobacco, which they hide near the mission, and then 
there is a great glee among them. I had to be very 
watchful to keep them from this vice. One even- 
ing I was chopping wood, and I noticed several of 
the little ones looking at me with one eye. When- 
ever an Indian looks at you with one eye, you may 
be sure they are up to mischief. I kept my eyes on 
them, and pretty soon I saw a little fellow peeping 
around the corner of the school house at me with 
one eye. I gathered up the wood and carried it in, 
and then stood carelessly in the door to await de- 
velopments. Directly a half a dozen of them ran 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 129 

up the hill and over to the other side. As soon as 
they were out of sight, I went around another way 
and came upon them. When they saw me they 
slid clown a steep embankment into Lost Creek, 
crossed over, and hid in the brush. A search soon 
revealed a pipe and some tobacco, which I gathered 
up and took to the mission. I did not let on that 
anything had happened. 

To a person who does not like to be with the In- 
dians, it wo aid be a severe punishment to be forced 
to teach them ; but I loved them, and made many 
friends among them. I could go to their homes 
a,nd sit and talk with them, and they were pleased 
to have me come. Oh, how much these poor, de- 
spised people have been wronged. Wicked men 
have gone among them and cheated and abused 
them, and then told lies about them. If the Indian 
is treated with kindness, he is a true friend ; but if 
he is abused, he is a dangerous enemy. 

I attended one of their green corn feasts the 15th 
day of Eighth month, or August. This is one of 
their annual feasts. This was a Wyandotte feast, 
and was participated in by many of other tribes, by 
invitation. There were several hundred people 
present. They drove stakes in the ground and 
placed hickory strips across them ; then they started 
a wood fire, and when it had burned down to coals, 
the meat was placed on the hickory strips and left 
to broil. Bread, beef and venison was all they had 
to eat, this being the diy year, and there being no 
green corn. When the meats and bread were cook- 
ed, they were brought around to us in baskets. We 

9 



130 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

had each provided ourselves with a three-pronged 
stick, and on the sharp points was stuck a large 
piece of each — beef, venison and bread. I never 
ate so much in one day as I did on this occasion. 
Any person who has eaten jerked venison, knows 
that is good. It was a day of enjoyment for all. 
Whitetree, a big man among the Senecas, made a 
short but enthusiastic speech. He was dressed in 
the aborignal costume ; he did not like the dress of 
the white man. He was a tall and portly looking 
man. Several short speeches were made. This- 
was the time for naming all those who had been 
adopted into the tribe during the past year, as well 
as all the infants who had been born. Thomas 
Mannucue was the old man who did the naming 
for the Wyandottes ; he would take the little ones 
in his arms and go over a rigmarole, then the In- 
dians said something, and then laughed heartily : 
after they had got through with this they put a 
small log in the ring, and then you heard a yell 
that would make your hair stand up on your head, 
if you had any ; then an Indian jumped into the 
ring with two turtle shells fastened together, with a 
quantity of corn between them and a stick fastened 
to them, and commenced humming something and 
pounding the log, which, with the rattling of the 
corn, made quite a noise. After this fellow had 
hummed for a few moments, another Indian jumped 
into the ring ; he was painted all over ; he yelled, 
and commenced to jump and dance about ; then 
the men jumped into the ring one after another,, 
until they formed a ring twenty feet across. The 



A TEACHER S UPS AND DOWNS. 131 

women then formed a ring between the men and 
the man with the shells. They now jumped and 
yelled and had a good time among themselves. 
This sport generally lasted until day break, when 
they scattered and went home to sleep. 

Every other day I used to take the boys to the 
river to bathe. It was a novel sight to see these 
little fellows taking to the water like so many ducks, 
for they appeared to be as much at home in the 
water as though they were ducks. 

The 4th of July of this year the Peoria Indians 
gave a great dinner, and invited the surrounding- 
tribes to come and partake of their hospitality. 
They made a large arbor, covered it with brush, 
and constructed a table in the form of a ring, on 
which was placed the victuals. The people stood 
up around the outside of this table. After dinner 
there were some speeches made by the big Indians. 
Governor Walker spoke first, and Judge Win, the 
chief of the Ottawas, followed him. Here are some 
of his words : 

This was the way of living when I was young. 
My parents kept me in the Indian faith and belief ; 
in this way they raised me from a boy ; my parents 
shaved my head. Old people followed that way at 
that time. When I was twenty years of age, I 
chose for myself ; I chose the law of the Lord, and 
to serve Him while I live ; I left off all these old 
customs ; all I had ever learned I left off, and now 
I live better ; this is a fine country, and we make 
good homes by working here and maintaining our- 
selves ; my friend Walker, of the Okmulgee council, 



132 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

we must attend to. Indian afraid of tax — afraid of 
those things that white men have ; if we would all 
cultivate the land, we would be happy at home. 
Work is the success of the white man. We are 
made like the white man, why should we not do as 
well ? Why does the white man make good citizen ? 
because he is faithful to work his farm of forty or 
eighty acres. My Indians here all do as white man 
does — attend one farm, take care of one family ; 
this is right. The Indians like to dress like white 
man, do as white man does, and eat as white man 
eats. Not fifty years, and Indian women will have 
red ribbons tied around their necks, and Grecian 
bends. Late years, Indians are not contented, if 
they see new figures in calico, unless they have 
them ; young Indians starch their shirts. Only one 
thing lacking with Indian — afraid work ! This is 
the only mode of success. No hunting in the for- 
ests for us now. By work we would grow in know- 
edge among men and all the different tribes. Ten 
years, and the Ottawa language will not be. I tell 
you these things, remember them. Quit all evil ; 
quit all things that are not right, and quit all bad 
habits. Love will come in. Put your trust in the 
Great Spirit, and labor, and we will be blessed in all 
of our undertakings. This is all I am going to say. 
There were many similar speeches made that 
day. Since that day Judge Win has died, and was 
buried in the Ottawa burying ground. His friends 
hewed out stones with which they covered the grave, 
and then laid a large, fiat, nice one on the top ; they 
fixed it very nice. His friends thought much of 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 138 

him — be was a good man. I visited the spot about 
the first of April, 1879. Many had fallen and passed 
away since that dinner. Major Battese, a Peoria 
chief, spoke that day ; he has fallen. Gov. Walker 
has also gone. They are going very fast. That 
day of the Fourth will long be remembered by the 
survivors of that time. 

My school progressed finely. It was quite inter- 
esting to see the children at the table ; those of one 
size would sit at one table, and those of another size 
at another. It was school all the time. One morn- 
ing I got up early, went out of doors and looked 
upon the house ; the roof was covered with the In- 
dian boys. It was so warm that they had taken 
their blankets and crawled out on the roof to keep 
cool. They were very sly in their moving about. 

I believe it would be right to insert just here a 
part of Laurie Tatum's report of the Indian Mis- 
sions, for the year 1878 : 

"From the Osages, I went to the Quapaw agency, 
a ride of about one hundred miles. This is under 
the care of Hiram W. -Jones. In it there are four 
schools. The first one visited was the Quapaw and 
Modoc Mission School, under the care of Emeline 
Tuttle, contractor. Through the winter she had 
fifty-six scholars, two teachers, and six other help- 
ers. Twelve girls over twelve years of age, who 
assisted in all the household duties, mending, knit- 
ting and sewing. The boys assist in the garden. 
Here was a school where the contractor had a good 
religious experience ; who with her husband, Asa C. 
Tuttle, and several of their employes, taught the 



134 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

gospel to their children ; several of them appear to 
have been converted. Among them a Modoc boy, 
Samuel Modoc, who, when he commenced school, 
was very contrary, high tempered and pugnacious. 
About two years after he commenced school, he was 
brought under deep condemnation for sin. One 
night, after retiring to bed, being under condemna- 
tibn, he arose, dressed and went out upon a hill, 
and in repentence prayed to God for pardon. He 
found peace, and he has since been a very different 
boy. He told me that he often yielded to temp- 
tation to sin, and again went to God for pardon 
before he found peace. That day, while I was there 
visiting the school, he was somewhat sulky, which 
he thought would not have been the case had he 
prayed in the morning as he usually did. 

" The Ottawa Mission School was formerly taught 
by Asa and Emeline Tuttle. When they com- 
menced their christian and literary labors in this 
tribe, there were but two of the men who were not 
addicted to alcoholic drinking. The present, school 
contractor, Francis King, frequently became intoxi- 
cated. He and many of the Indians have, through 
the instrumentality of- these active christians, be- 
come converted. They have ceased drinking, and 
are leading very different lives. Now there are but 
two in the tribe who are addicted to drinking. 

" The influence of these Friends extended to the 
neighboring tribes. A marked instance that I 
heard of was Baptiste Peoria, the chief of the Peo- 
rias. He quit his drinking habits and urged his 
people to become temperate, and expressed to some 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 135 

of his friends that he wished to die a christian. 
When taken sick with the pneumonia he was visited 
by Francis King, who reminded him of his wish to 
die a christian, adding, "There is yet hope for you." 
Taking his friend by the hand, he said, "Is that 
so ? " "Yes," replied his friend. "Christ came to 
save sinners, and if you repent and ask him to for- 
give, he will hear you." He did repent, ask and 
rind forgiveness. The next day he had the principal 
men of his tribe to go to his room, whom he urged 
to quit their drinking habits and other wicked ways, 
go to the Lord in resentence, and embrace the 
christian religion wliich he had accepted, and which 
then made him happy in the Lord. He died a 
christian, as he desired; but how much better it 
would have been had he also lived a christian." 

I have put this piece in here to show what two 
good, active christian workers, such as Asa C. and 
Emeline Tuttle, have done for the poor Indians. 
There has many a heart been bound up by their 
faithful hands, many a poor Indian has been helped 
in more ways than one by them. They are always 
doing something to help them along. 0, that all 
the workers who are among the Indians were such 
workers ; there would be far more done than is done 
toward their civilization and christianization. 

There was one good feature about those Indians : 
they were always still and quiet while in the school 
room. The boys and girls, when they got so they 
could read, would study every minute there was. 
One boy, by the name of Henry Stand, a Seneca, 
was the best worker that I ever had in my school. 



136 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



When they got so that they could write on a slate, 
they would keep one busy sometimes writing copies. 
I came up to my home while I was teaching. I 
told the children I wanted them all to be good chil- 
dren while I was gone. This is the copy of a letter 
one of the boys wrote when I got back to the Mis- 
sion : 

"William Jackson Fish has been a good boy 
while you was gone I mind all is here. I have go 
home Saturday. I come back in the evening. All 
the children mind what they tell. 

" Wyandotte Mission. Jeremiah Hubbard." 

My school was a very tine school, I thought. 
There was one young woman who often assisted me 
in the school room ; she was a fine looking Indian, 
and a good girl. Many of those Indian children 
have a very warm place in my heart. I never in all 
my life spent a few months so pleasantly, and when 
I left them they were all sorry. My mind often 
turns back to them, among the trees and on the 
prairie. There was one little Indian by the name 
of Tommy Fish, an orphan. I was talking to some 
of them about the Lord ; how He would take care of 
all those that love Him. Tommy thought there 
would be nobody to take care of Tommy. He said : 
"Do the Lord see Tommy in the night ? " "Yes," 
said I, "He will hold us in His arms and carry us 
in His bosom." The little fellow's eyes sparkled 
when I was thus talking to them. The little fellow 
has since then gone to his long home, where I hope 
to meet him again in the world of glory. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 137 

My school closed nicely. May the Lord bless 
more and more. Amen. 

MAKE ROOM FOR THE BOYS. 

I sometimes think that boys have hardly a fair 
chance. They get a great many hard knocks and 
sharp rebuffs, and sometimes not half enough sym- 
pathy. Little girls are petted, dressed up, loved, 
and tenderly cared for, and sheltered from the 
storm ; they are praised, nattered, pleased, caress- 
ed, decked off with ribbons and jewelry, noticed by 
everybody, and — spoiled. But who ever pets a boy, 
or caresses him, or praises him, or takes pains tO' 
please him ? Boys are left to take care of them- 
selves. They must always give way to their sisters. 
They are forever pushsd about and snubbed, and 
sometimes savagely scolded. They are sent to 
school to get them out of the way. 

Nobody cares for them, except those good an- 
gels, God bless them ! who stand in the school 
all day long, and with tender patience try to teach 
and train them for usefulness. There was a tender 
pathos, and a keen, sharp rebuke in the question 
which a dying boy asked his mother. He was almost 
gone. The cold, clammy sweat stood in great 
beaded drops upon his brow, and his voice was very 
faint as he spoke : " Mother, do you think there will 
be any room for me in heaven ; will I always be in 
the way of some one there, as I have been here ? ' : 
Poor boy ! He had heard nothing all his life but 
"Get out of my way ! " and " Don't go there." No 
one had ever wanted him around ; he had seemed 



138 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

to be always in the way, and when he was told he 
was going to heaven, he wanted to know if it was 
to be the same there ; and if he was to find no more 
sypathy and love than he had found on earth, the 
prospect was anything but nattering. Now, it 
seems to me that it ought not to be so. There 
should be some place in this world where boys could 
be, and not be told to get out of the way. There 
should be some people who would speak kindly to 
them, and not be ever telling them, in sharp, stern 
tones, to " move on." There should be some people 
who could sympathise with boys, and not be dis- 
turbed by their noise. There should be some one 
who would answer their questions, and listen to 
their conversation, and enter into the spirit of their 
fun and sport, and not be cross, petulent and impa- 
tient towards them. 

Perhaps boys are not quite so interesting as girls, 
not quite so gentle, not quite so pretty or bewitch- 
ing. Nevertheless, to one who will take the pains 
to see it, there is a great deal of beauty in a jolly, 
healthy boy. To one who is thoughtful, there is the 
deepest interest in a boy's nature. Then boys have 
rights. We find room for everything else in this 
big world — room, too, for some very worthless 
things — and there ought to be room for boys ; room 
in the hearts and homes, and in all decent, respect- 
able places. There ought to be some place about 
■every house where boys can make all the noise they 
want to, without being forever called on to keep 
quiet. There should be at least one heart in every 
household big enough to take in all the boys, and 



A TEACHEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 139 

listen to all they have to say, and thoroughly sym- 
pathise with them. 

Countless lives are marred and crushed in boy- 
hood, not intentionally, but oftentimes in the very 
effort to train them ; more often for want of pa- 
tience and sympathy ; but of tenest of all through 
sheer ignorance of their nature. Misunderstood ! 
might be wvitten of thousands of boys, and the re- 
sult is dwarfed lives, and perhaps wrecked man- 
hood. I always had an admiration for that teacher 
•who used to take off his hat to his boys in school, 
because he did not know, he said, what future gen- 
ius might be sitting on some form. We do not 
know what powers and capacities are hidden away 
in the brains and hearts of our boys. Who knows 
what latent skill there is in that soiled hand, what 
power in that puny form, what wisdom lies latent 
in that unopened mind, what eloquence or song im- 
prisoned in that noisy tongue. 

The gardener tends the dry, knotted, leafless 
vine stem in the spring, with most gentle care, not 
because it is now beautiful, or fruitful, but because 
he knows that in it are the buds and possibilities of 
summer leafage and autumn fruitage. He is not 
thinking of the brown, crooked vine, all unsightly, 
but of the wreath of purple clusters that will hang 
there by and by. In like manner he props up the 
tall, bare, thorny rod, in the first spring days, not 
because it is beautiful now, but because he knows 
that in summer time it will robe and crown itself 
with blooming, fragrant roses, and scatter perfume 
in the air. And our boys may not promise much 



140 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

now. Their rudeness may shock us, their noise 
may deafen us, their irrepressible mischief may 
sorely try our patience ; there may appear no beau- 
tiful traits in them, no immediate promises of use- 
fulness or nobleness ; but the beauty is there, nev- 
ertheless ; the noble features are there, like the im- 
age in the photographer's glass when he takes it 
out of the camera, invisible yet, but capable of be- 
ing brought out. The powers are there, like the 
leaves and purple clusters in the knotty vine in 
March, unseen yet, but only waiting the warmth 
and sweetness of nurturing love to bring them 
out. The graces and adornments are there, no 
matter how thorny the stem, like the beautiful, 
fragrant roses in the sharp, briary rod, needing on- 
ly skillful care and gentle training to cause them to 
blossom forth, covering and hiding every unsightly 
feature. 

Boys should be cared for for what is latent in 
them. Then the other side should be remembered. 
Uncared for boys may grow up bad men and curse 
the world. Our boys will soon be the active spirits 
of society, wielding a great social, political and 
moral power. What will they be? The question 
must soon be answered. 

KISS YOUR CHILD GOOD NIGHT. 

Kiss your child, mother, before it sleeps, 

'Twill soothe its peaceful rest; 
Bright eyes will close in sunny dreams, 

When the rosy lips you've pressed. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 141 

That kiss will be in memory, 

When the giver sleeps in the grave; 
And the mind will wander back again 

To childhood's happy day. 

JOHN JANKINS' SERMON. 

The minister said, last night, says he, 

"Don't be afraid of givin'; 
If your life aint nothin' to other folks, 

Why, what's the use o' livin'?" 
And that's what I say to my wife, says I, 

"There's Brown, the miserable sinner! 
He'd sooner a beggar would starve, than give 

A cent toward buyin' his dinner." 

I tell you, our minister's prime, he is; 

But I couldn't quite determine, 
When I heard him a givin' it right and left, 

Just who was hit by his sermon. 
Of course there couldn't be no mistake 

When he talked of long-winded prayin'; 
J?or Peters and Johnson, they sot an' scowled 

At every word he was sayin'. 

And the minister he went on to say: 

"There's various kinds o' cheatin'; 
And religio'n 's as good for every day 

As it is to bring to meetin' ! 
I don't think much of a man that gives 

The Lord ' amens ' at my preachin', 
And spends his time the following week 

In cheatin' and overreachin'." 

I guess that dose was bitter enough 

For a man like Jones to swaller ; 
But I notice he didn't open his mouth 

But once, after that, to holler. 
Hurrah! says I, for the minister — 



142 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

Of course, I said it quiet — 
Give us some more of this open talk; 
It's very refreshing diet. 

The minister hit 'em every time ; 

And when he spoke of fashion, 
And a riggin' out in bows and things 

As woman's rulin' passion, 
And a eomin' to church to see the styles, 

And, a nudgin' my wife, says I, " That's you," 
And I guess I sot her thinkin'. 

Say I to myself, That sermon's pat, 

But a man is a queer creation ; 
And I'm much afraid that most of folks 

Won't take the application. 
Now, if he had said a word about 

My personal mode of sinnin', 
I'd have gone to work to right myself, 

And not set here a grinnin'. 

Just then the minister, says he, 

" And now I've come to the fellers 
Who've lost this shower by usin' their friends- 

As sort o' moral umbrellers. 
Go home," says he, " and find your faults, 

Instead of huntin' your brother's; 
Go home," says he, " and wear your coats 

You've tried to fit for others." 

My wife, she nudged, and Brown, he winked, 

And there was lots o' smilin', 
And lots a lookin' at our pew — 

It sot my blood a boilin'. 

After I stopped teaching in the Territory, I moved 
back into Jasper county, Missouri, to my old home. 
In a little while I commenced to teach at my home 
school : Union School, Mineral township, Jasper 
county, Missouri. This was my twenty-first term 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 143 



of school, taught the fall and winter of 1873-74, 
commencing about the first of 11th month, 1873, in 
the old meeting house, as we had no school house 
as yet. Our directors did not feel able yet to under- 
take to build. We have four acres of ground, which 
was bought before the war, for a school house site. 
We got some new desks, and put them in the meet- 
ing house — they were nice patent desks. My school 
opened out very well ; somewhere near fifty pupils 
were enrolled during the term. The pupils took 
right hold of their lessons. The greatest difficulty 
I have ever met with in the school room, is the ten- 
dency of scholars to whisper and spend their time 
idly. My pupils got along as well as I could expect ; 
most of them during this term tried to learn. One 
case I wish to speak of here— Eliza Gathers; one- 
the best girls that I nearly ever saw at school. She 
was always mild, kind and pleasant, and seemed as 
though she wanted everybody to do right ; but how 
little did I think she would so soon be taken from 
her parents, teachers and friends that loved her so 
well. I often am made to think of her as I have 
seen her in the school room ; and to now remember 
that her form is mouldering in the grave ! But her 
soul has gone to that happy land far away, where 
it will be forever at rest. May it be my happy por- 
tion to meet her, with many of my loved pupils who 
have gone before. 

Martha and Dicy Hollingsworth, two sisters, at- 
tended this school. Martha was an exception of a 
good girl to study and try to learn. Dicy was harder 
to understand by me, and it seemed as though it 



144 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

was very difficult for her to comprehend. Anna 
and Dora Hollingsworth, two other sisters, also 
attended this school. Anna was very quick to com- 
prehend anything, but seemed to be so full of her 
mischief that she could not apply her mind to her 
studies ; it was no trouble for her to learn, when she 
would stop long enough to think. Dora was very 
slow to comprehend, and seemed more like an old 
woman. There were a couple of young men by the 
name of Means attended this school ; they were from 
Iowa. One of them was very bright and quick to 
learn, and could impart his knowledge very well. 
We had great times spelling at this school ; I had 
some very good spellers. My plan was to spell the 
first recitation after the books were taken, in the 
afternoon. I would give out the word but once ; the 
scholar must pronounce it after me, then spell the 
word, pronouncing each syllable as he or she spelled. 
If they left out a letter, or failed to give the syllables, 
I just went on and gave out the next word — I let 
pupils do the watching. I would mark the words 
missed. Sometimes one near the foot would get up 
head, by having the lesson well committed. The 
one that left off head would go foot the next time. 
This is the best plan I have ever found in my expe- 
rience ; it keeps everyone paying strict attention to 
the lesson, and I have found that pupils learn very 
fast this way. 

I have always made it a rule when the children 
eat, to have them sit down and have a few moments' 
pause before eating, and I believe the plan is a good 
one. I have known teachers who would just turn 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 145 



the children loose, to eat any way or any how. If 
teachers would remember that they wield a greater 
influence in the world than any one else, they would 
be much more careful than they are. 

There was one young woman that attended my 
other school at this place, whom I overlooked in my 
report of that school. Her name was Rachel Hod- 
son. She was a splendid young woman ; studied 
very hard, and was aiming to qualify herself for a 
teacher ; she made use of every minute as it came 
along. She boarded with us this winter. Alfred 
Hubbard attended ; first-rate boy in school. 

My school closed to good satisfaction, with love 
to all my pupils. 

JOHNNY FLAXMAN. 

Everybody said that Johnny Flaxman never 

would be anybody ; by which they meant, he never 

would be a bright or shining light in the world, or 

distinguished for his intellect. Yet, when I said 

•everybody, I ought to have left out Johnny's mother, 

the teacher and preacher. Johnny's mother was 

actually partial, but then she knew him better than 

any one else could, and she was ready to maintain 

against the town that her John had as good a mind 

as any other boy. I will tell you one reason of 

her faith in Johnny. Mrs. Flaxman bought a paper 

of verbena seeds, and they looked so very much like 

tiny sticks that she said she would not "potter" 

with them ; and giving them to Johnny, along with 

a piece of ground for a bed, told him to see what he 

fiould make of them. Time went on from May till 
10 



146 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

August ; Johnny's bed of verbenas was the admira- 
tion of the village, and strangers passing often 
stopped to look at it with surprise and pleasure. 

Johnny's duties and little tasks were always done 
in time. The cows were in the milking yard pre- 
cisely at half past six o'clock ; the chip basket was 
always full and in its place, so that Mrs. Flaxman 
never had to call, "Johnny, chips, chips." The 
minister said he liked Johnny, because he had such 
a good and honest heart ; and besides this, he said 
that Johnny Flaxman learned his Bible verses per- 
fectly, never jumbling up the small but necessary 
words — to, of, with, by — as many careless children 
do ; so that it was a pleasure to hear Johnny's Sab- 
bath school lesson. His teacher declared that al- 
though it took a long time to get anything through 
Johnny's head, when it was learned he knew it for- 
ever. I suppose if you could have seen the struggle 
he had with the multiplication table, you would 
have smiled. Nobody knew how long he had stud- 
ied it ; but Betty Tattle used to plague poor Johnny, 
and say that he began to study it as soon as he 
could talk, and hadn't got it yet. But the multi- 
plication table was nothing to long division. All 
summer the teacher went over it again and again ; 
but Johnny could not comprehend how to get the 
dividend. One afternoon, toward the close of the 
term, a wonderful light came into Johnny Flaxman's 
face. He had conquered long division at last. Until 
he was twelve years old he was at the foot in spell- 
ing ; after that, any one who got Johnny's place at 
the head of the class had to work very hard for it. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 147 



The fact is, Johnny was a plant of slow growth. 
The morning-glory creeps to the gable and roof of 
the homestead in one short summer, hanging all the 
way along its delicate blossoms. It is very easy to 
coax a willow sprout to take root ; a little sun and 
a little rain fulfill the conditions of its growth ; in 
two or three years it gives in return for a little care 
yards of silver-spray like boughs. But it takes an 
acorn many summers and many winters to become 
an oak. 

When Johnny was about eighteen years old, a 
trustee from a district on the hills came down to 
the valley school to hire a teacher. "Our district 
is a rough and a tough place," said Mr. Eyrie, "as 
to the wind and weather, I mean. The snow-drifts 
cover the tops of the fences ; the winds seem never 
to tire of blowing up our way ; but we have wood 
enough and food enough, and good horses and 
sleighs ; and we want a young man that can really 
give us a lift. Our big boys cannot be spared to go 
to school in the summer, but they are very anxious 
to learn all they can in winter. If," continued Mr. 
Eyrie, " we could get a young man who knows alge- 
bra and arithmetic, and who can give us a lift in 
our debating societies and prayer meetings, we shall 
esteem it a favor and pay liberal wages. But our 
teacher must board around, as it is the desire of the 
boys on the Hill to have him for company ; and as 
our living costs us nothing, we can't pay money for 
board." Unanimously the verdict of the teacher 
and school was, "Johnny Flaxman is the one to 
go." 



148 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

When some one asked Mr. Eyrie in the spring 
how they liked Johnny up in his district, he replied : 
"A more faithful young man never drew breath. 
The learning that the big boys of the Hill school 
acquired under the teaching of Johnny Flaxman 
is more like a miracle. You ought to see the neat 
writing, to hear the correct spelling, the parsing, 
and especially to see the way the boys did those 
puzzling problems in partial payments." "Johnny, 
how did you like teaching?" inquired his mother. 
" I think it did me more good than to go to school 
a year." " Johnny Flaxman is off to college," said 
the minister, to pretty young Miss Betty Tattle. 
"Why, Johnny was always the dullest boy in 
school. How did it happen? " "He prepared his 
Greek and Latin with me ; he does seem, rather 
slow, but when his mind grasps any science it is 
with the precision of a master." 

The career of Johnny Flaxman in college was 
similar to that in the district school. The brilliant 
young men laughed at his slowness. They spent 
the time in boating and boxing that Johnny spent 
over the classics ; when examination came, they 
found many things learned so easily had slipped out 
of memory. But Johnny Flaxman stood like a 
rock. He passed through his studies with honor, 
and took the highest prize in mathematics. On the 
day that he graduated, the president had a letter 
from the trustees of a young college out west. They 
wrote: "We want a young man that you can re- 
commend to us for professor of mathematics. Our 
school is in its infancy, has its reputation to make, 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 149 

and we want the very best instructors." Mr. Flax- 
man (as we must now call him) went to them, and 
did — as all his life he had done — admirably. 

This narrative is given particularly for the en- 
couragement of boys who think they are dull and 
slow. Patient determination will remove every 
obstacle from the path at last. 

One. Sabbath morning not long since I was in 
the city where the Rev .'Mr. Flaxman preached, and 
went to hear him. The sermon reminded one of a 
green oasis in the desert of Sahara. He was as 
much in earnest when he told the story of Christ, 
the Divine Master, as he had been all his life in his 
various undertakings. There were no heresies in 
his heart ; he was orthodox as the Bible itself. The 
gray of time was gathering in little flakes on the 
top of his head ; he looked like a strong oak tree, 
and my mental comment on him was : I wish that 
through the length and breadth of this land scores 
of boys would grow up to be such men as Mr. Flax- 
man. 

RINGING FOR THE WATER-BOY. 

A good story is told of a verdant one, who was a 
passenger in a railroad express train and became 
thirsty: "Where's that 'ere boy with that water 
can?" he queried of his next neighbor. "He has 
gone forward to the baggage car, I suppose," was 
the reply. "Wall, do you suppose I ken get him 
back here again?" "Certainly," said the other; 
"you have only to ring for him," and he nodded 
toward the bell-line that ran above their heads. 



150 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

No sooner said than done. Before any one could 
prevent it, Rusticus had siezed the line and given it 
a tremendous tug. The consequences were at once 
obvious ; three shrill whistles were instantly heard, 
half a dozen brakemen ran to their posts, and the 
train came to a stand-still with a suddenness that 
startled half the passengers with astonishment, and 
caused every man next to a window to hoist- it and 
look out to see what was the matter. In a few min- 
utes the conductor, red and excited, came foaming 
into the car to know who pulled that bell-rope. 
"Here, mister, this way; I'm the man," shouted 
the offender, drawing all eyes upon him. "You ! " 
said the conductor ; " and what did you do it for?" 
" Sartain ; I wanted the water-boy, and my partner 
here in the seat said I had better ring for him, as 
we do at the hotel ; and so I yanked the bell. Will 
he be along soon ? And, by the by, what in thunder 
be ye stoppin' for?" The shout of laughter that 
greeted this honest confession was too much for the 
conductor, and he had to wait till he got his train 
under way again before he explained the mystery of 
the bell-rope to his verdant customer. 

St. John says that when the Savior was brought 
before Pilate, he was asked the question, "What is 
truth?" As Pilate was a Roman, of course his 
question was put in the Latin language : Quidest 
Veritas? The scripture records no reply to this 
question, possibly for the reason that it contains an 
answer which may be discovered by the mere trans- 
position of the letters : Est vir qui adest, "It is the 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 151 



man who stands before you." This may be as in- 
teresting as it is singular to many. 

ABIDE WITH ME. 

"Abide with us ; for it is toward even, and the day is far spent." 

Abide with me; fast falls the even tide; 
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide; 
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, Oh, abide with me. 

Hold Thou Thy cross before my eyes; 
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies; 
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; 
In life, in death, Lord, abide with me. 

THE SIMPLE CHURCH. 

I've been to a Quaker meeting, wife, and I shall go again: 
It was so quiet and so neat, so simple and so plain; 
The angels seemed to gather there, from off the other shore, 
And fold their wings in quietness, as if they'd been before. 
There was no high-priced organ there, no costly singing 

choir 
To help you raise your thoughts to God, and holiness in- 
spire ; 
But, sitting still in silence, we seemed to feel and know 
The still small voice that entered in and told the way to go. 
The walls were free from paintings and costly works of art, 
That in our modern churches seem to play so large a part; 
TFor, it seems they each endeavor to please the eye of man, 
And lose all thoughts of plainness, in every church they 

plan. 
The windows had no colored glass to shed a gloom around, 
But God's pure sunlight entered unrestrained and all around, 
And centered in a little spot, so bright, it seems to me 
A glimpse of brightness somewhat like our future home will 
be. 



152 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

There was no learned minister, who read as from a book, 
And showed that he had practiced his every word and look,. 
Bat a sermon full of wisdom was preached by an old Friend, 
That took right hold of all our thoughts, and held them to 
the end. 

There was no pulpit decked with flowers of beauty rich and 

rare, 
And made of costly foreign woods, almost beyond compare; 
But the plain and simple words that we that day had heard. 
The common painted gallery did much to help the word. 

There was no bustle, noise, or stir, as each one took his 

seat, 
But silence settled over all, not solemn, but so sweet! 
As each one in his quiet way implored for strength to know 
The right from wrong in everything, and asked the way to 

go. 

It seemed, while I was there, wife, so peaceful and so still, 
That I was in God's presence, and there to do His will; 
The simple, peaceful quiet did more to move my heart 
Than any worship yet had done, with all its show and art. 

I'm going there again, wife, and you will like it, too. 

I know what it has done for me; 'twill do the same for you; 

And you, when once you've entered through the plain but 
open door, 

Will wonder why you've never tried the simple church be- 
fore. 

During the summer of 1874 I taught my twenty- 
second term of school, at Union School, where I 
had taught the preceding winter. The school term 
lasted for three months, and was one of the most 
pleasant seasons I had spent teaching. I had some 
forty-five scholars, many of whom came from a dis- 
tance. My scholars this term were attentive and 
industrious, and made rapid progress in their 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 153 



studies. Among those who attended the school 
from a distance, were the Misses Mattie and Sarah 
Burgess, from Kansas. I always enjoyed teaching 
in summer, for then we had so many beautiful 
flowers. One of my pupils, who came some ten or 
twelve miles northeast of here, by the name of 
George Cathers, was partially paralyzed, and 
able to use but one hand. I always did pity any 
one who was afflicted in any way ; I always felt it 
to be my duty to look after them. George was a 
good boy at school. I often think of him, and hope 
that he may be blessed, both in this and the life to 
come. Mary Bray attended this school. Mary 
was a very good girl at school ; she was a little re- 
served, but could comprehend very quickly ; she 
was a good reader — read loud and distinct, in a 
round, full tone of voice. Ella Bray was almost a 
young woman. Ella watched all that went on 
around her, and was full of fun. Johnny and Cally 
Bray attended this term of school, though but small 
boys ; they acted like little men, and would often 
ask questions worthy of much older heads. My 
daughter Hettie also attended this school. Hettie 
was always a good girl, if I do say so myself, and 
was very much of a lady. I probably did not at 
all times do as much for my girl as was my duty, 
but T always loved my children with the affection 
of a father. 

Eosa Seamen attended my first school at this 
place, and was a very good girl. She was always 
full of fun and play, but in the bloom of youth was 
taken from our midst, and called to leave this world. 



154 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

She has gone to that world of glory, where we all 
want to go when we leave this world. 

Lizzie Carter was another fine young lady who 
attended this term of school. Lizzie was very quiet, 
and always did what I told her without answering 
hack. She, too, has been called away — she, too, 
has gone to glory. 0, may I one day meet these 
children who have gone to heaven, where parting is 
no more. Callie Macashland was a good little girl 
who attended this term of school. We got along 
very nicely at this term of school. I look back to 
those days with feelings of joy in my heart, when I 
remember how many happy days we spent there to- 
gether. I think that a teacher in the summer 
should have various exercises in the school room, 
to keep the children interested, because the hot 
weather makes the days appear so long. All passed 
along pleasantly. How nice to close a school and 
feel that we have done the best we could. Praise to 
.the Lord. 

THE UNBARRED DOOR. 

When on Columbia's eastern plains 

Still roamed the forest child, 
And the new homes of Europe's sons 

Were rising in the wild, 

Upon a clearing in the woods, 

Amos had built his cot, 
And tilled his little farm, and lived 

Contented with his lot. 

A just, peace-loving man was he, 

Kind unto all, and true; 
And well his ever open door 

The wandering Indian knew. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 155 



But often were the settlers' lands 

By force or fraud obtained, 
And in the red man, dispossessed, 

Revenge alone remained. 

And around the blazing fire of logs, 
"When winter nights were cold, 

To shuddering listeners, dreadful tales 
Of Indian raids were told. 

But Amos feared not, though his home 

All undefended lay; 
And still his never-bolted door 

Was open night and day. 

One morn a neighbor passed in haste— 
" Indians, they say, are nigh, 

So, Amos, bar your door to-night, 
And keep your powder dry." 

" Nay, friend." he said, " the God I serve 

Commands me not to kill; 
And sooner would I yield my life 

Than disobey His will. 

" One gun have I, but used alone 

Against the wolf or bear ; 
To point it at my fellow man, 

My hand would never dare. 

" But I will put the thing away ; 

They shall not see it here; 
For the old gun, in hands unskilled; 

Might do some harm, I fear. 

" Besides, the Indians are my friends — 

They would not do me ill; 
Here they have found an open door, 

And they shall find it still." 



156 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

"Well," said the neighbor, as he went, 
"My faith is not so clear; 

If wretches come to take my life, 
I mean to sell it dear." 

But the good wife of Amos stood 
And listened with affright; 

" Unless," she said, " the door is fast, 
I shall not sleep to-night." 

And with her words, as woman can; 

She pressed her husband sore, 
Till, for the sake of household peace, 

At last he barred the door. 

They went to rest, and soon the wife 
Was wrapped in slumber deep; 

But Amos turned and tossed about, 
And vainly tried to sleep. 

Then came a voice within his heart, 

A mild rebuke it bore, 
It whispered: "Thou of little faith, 

Why has thou barred thy door ? 

" Weak is that poor defense of thine 

Against a hostile band; 
Stronger than strongest fortresses 

The shadow of My hand. 

" Hast thou not said, these many times 
That I have power to save, 

As when my servants' trembling feet 
Were sinking in the wave? 

"Now let thy actions with thy words- 

In full accord agree; 
Bise quickly and unbolt thy door, 

And trust alone in Me." 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 157 

Then Amos from his bed arose, 

And softly trod the flood, 
Crept down the stairs, and noiselessly 

Unbarred the cottage door. 

Then forth he looked into the night; 

Star-light it was, and still; 
And slowly rose the waning moon 

Behind the tree-fringed hill. 

He looked with truthful, reverent gaze, 

Up to the starry sky, 
As meets a child with loving glance 

A tender father's eye. 

The cloud was lifted from his mind, 

His doubts were over now; 
The cool air breathed a kiss of peace 

Upon his tranquil brow. 

Then back to his forsaken bed 

He softly groped his way, 
And slept the slumber of the just 

Until the dawn of day. 

That night a painted warrior band 

Through the dark forest sped, 
With step as light upon the leaves 

As panther's stealthy tread. 

They reach the farm — "We make no war 

With good and faithful men," 
The foremost Indian turned and said, 

" Here dwells a son of Penn." 

" Brother, if still his heart is right 

How shall we surely know ? " 
Answered another ; " Time brings change, 

And oft brings friend to foe." 



A TEACHEE S UPS AND DOWNS. 



Then said the first one, " I will go 

And gently tap the door; 
If open still, it proves his heart 

Is as it was before." 

It yielded, and they entered in; 

Across the floor they stept, 
And came where Amos and his wife 

Calm and unconscious slept. 

With Tomahawk and scalping-knife 

They stood beside the pair; 
A solemn stillness filled the room — 

An angel guard was there. 

Then eye sought eye, and seemed to say, 
"How sound the good man sleeps ! 

So may they rest, and fear no ill, 
"Whom the Great Spirit keeps." 

Then noiselessly they left the house, 

And closed the door behind, 
And on their deadly war-trail passed, 

Some other prey to find. 

And horror shrieked around their steps, 
And blood- shed marked their way; 

And many homes were desolate 
When rose another day. 

But Amos, with a thankful heart, 

Greeted the morning light, 
And knew not until after years, 

How near was death that night. 

My twenty- third term of school was taught" the 
fall and winter of 1874-75, at Galesburg, Jasper 
county, Missouri, commencing the first of 10th 
month, 1874. The school house was situated at the 
south edge of the village, and was a large and com- 
modious building, with wooden desks sufficient to 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 159 

seat about sixty scholars. A platform about ten 
feet wide ran across one end, with a large desk ; 

blackboard across one end. John Cassel and 

Shoemaker were two of the directors. There were 
about twenty-five scholars the first day ; in a few 
days there w r ere two or three little darkies came to 
school, one morning. I soon saw that it did not 
set well with some of them ; at recess the pupils 
would gather in groups and talk. The next day the 
children were telling what their parents were going 
to do, if those darkey children kept on coming. I 
did not care, so far as I was concerned. The law 
of Missouri was, that in a district where there were 
not fifteen, or more, darkey children of suitable age 
to go to school, having no school of their own, they 
could go to the white school. The breeze kept very 
hot for about two weeks, and the directors finally 
concluded that it was best to put the darkies by 
themselves. So they got an old man to take them 
to his house and teach them there. The pupils 
kept on coming ; by this time there were near forty. 
The neighborhood was in an uproar, and the idea 
occurred to me that the best way to get everything 
quiet was to commence a series of meetings. So I 
commenced, and the people came to the meeting. 
Our meetings grew in interest from the very start ; 
the people soon began to cry and say, "Men and 
brethren, what shall we do to be saved?" I have 
known for years that the best way to cure a neigh- 
borhood of fussing, is to get them converted. From 
the very day that that meeting commenced my 
school began to increase in interest and in numbers. 



160 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

My meetings were held for four weeks, every night 
save one. Many were converted and many homes 
made happy by that meeting, and a great blessing 
it was to my school. 

There was one case that I wish to speak of that 
occurred during this meeting : A young married 
man and his wife came to the meetings ; I went to 
him and was talking to him in regard to his soul's 
salvation. At first he did not want to talk, but 
finally I told him that I wanted to meet him in 
glory. I invited him to come back the next night ; 
he came. I went to him again ; at first he was cool, 
but at last I got him to talk to me some ; he said he 
was so bad that there was no use to talk about his 
being a christian. I finally got him to the anxious 
seat and he was soundly converted, and just a week 
after the meetings closed he died happy in a Savior's 
love. They sent for me to attend the funeral. I 
went, and a very solemn time it was to us all. I 
have believed since that day that if that meeting 
accomplished no more than the saving of that soul, 
that it paid us all largely. Sow good seed by the 
side of all waters. 

'My school progressed finely ; my pupils got along 
very well in their studies. Some of course learned 
much faster than others. They kept very still in 
time of books. My rule was, that when I saw any 
of them talking I would take their names, and when 
I had got five times against them, then they had to 
stand out on the floor, and commit a piece and say 
it before they took their seats. I had no trouble in 
getting along with my pupils ; they were all very 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 161 

willing to obey all orders. There are always a few 
in every school who are ring-leaders in mischief. 
Ally Cabiness was about the best scholar in most 
branches that I had. She was a cripple, and had 
to be hauled by her little brothers to school ; they 
always seemed very kind to her. There were a 
couple of the Smith girls who attended this school ; 
they were very good girls at school. Alice Ogle was 
a regular attendant at my school during this term. 
Hester Kinnamon was a live, wide-awake girl, full 
of fun, but very kind and pleasant. Lettie Malone 
was a young woman, very lady-like all the time, a 
very good scholar, and tried hard to learn all she 
possibly could. 

There were three of the Cassel boys who were 
very gentlemanly in their behavior at school. You 
can always tell how children are raised at home, by 
observing their actions at school. There was a 
young man by the name of Smith who was a very 
fine young man. There were several others that I 
might speak of that were smaller. 

My school progressed along finely ; we had a 
very good examination that last day of school, and 
at night had an exhibition that was very good in- 
deed. The scholars said their pieces very well. 
Johnny Duncan was a very good hand at an exhi- 
bition — he spoke and acted well. My two little 
boys, Eassie and Holtie, acted the Indian Mocasin, 
which was very funny, and was enjoyed by the 
congregation. Johnny Stokes and his sister at- 
tended this school. They were two very nice little 
folks. They looked as neat and nice as a new pin. I 



162 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

shall always remember these little folks that have- 
attended my school from time to time. My school 
closed to good satisfaction. Taught four months. 
The time passed along quickly, and was soon gone. 

I will now speak of Jimmy Stith, a young man 
who attended my school last summer at Union. 
He was a very fine young man, very steady, and 
studied hard in the school room. He stored his 
mind with useful knowledge. He was also a very 
religious young man. He improved every moment 
as it came along, and is now a great minister and 
sabbath school worker. May he do much good in 
this world and reap a rich reward in the world of 
glory. 

Over the window of an old house in England is 
an inscription, the sense of which may be expressed 
thus : " You would weep if you knew that your life 
was limited to one month, yet you laugh while you 
know not but it may be restricted to one day." 
Such is the blinding and deadening influence of 
cherished sin as to cause unsaved men and women 
to be careless, and even gleeful, while momentarily 
exposed to death and endless ruin. Awake ! thou 
that sleepest, and rise from the dead, and Christ 
shall give thee light. 

MY MOTHER'S HANDS. 

Such beautiful, beautiful hands; 

They are neither white nor small, 
And you, I know, would scarcely think 

That they are fair at all. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 163 

I've looked on hands whose form and hue 

A sculptor's dream might be, 
Yet are those aged, wrinkledliands, 

More beautiful to me. 

Such beautiful, beautiful hands; 

Though heart was weary and sad, 
These patient hands kept toiling on, 

That children might be glad. 
I almost weep, as looking back 

To childhood's distant day, 
I think how those hands have rested not 

While mine were at their play. 

Such beautiful, beautiful hands; 

They are growing feeble now, 
For time and pain have left their mark 

On hand and heart and brow. 
Alas! alas! the nearing time 

And the sad, sad day to me, 
When 'neath the daisies, out of sight, 

These hands will folded be. 

But, 0, beyond this shadowy land, 

Where all is bright and fair, 
I know full well those dear old hands 

Will palms of victory bear. 
And when the old grow young again, 

111 clasp my mother's hands. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

Benjamin Franklin, the son of a Boston tallow 
chandler and soap boiler, was, in some respects, 
the most remarkable man that ever lived. He was 
a man of " seventeens," (if such a term can be 
used,) having been born January 17, 1706, and 
died April 17, 1790. He was the youngest son of a 
family of seventeen children, and may be said to 
have begun his travels at the age of seventeen. 



164 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

In youth Franklin was fond of reading; he 
studied much. He had a fancy for composing 
both prose and poetry. His father being displeased 
with some of the latter, young Franklin desisted 
from that kind of composition — a sensible conclu- 
sion. " This is how," says Franklin, "I escaped 
from being a poet." Franklin was fond of argu- 
ment. Even in early life, he wrote for his brother 
•James' paper. Meeting with difficulty with this 
same brother, he, Benjamin, went to New York, 
where he found himself homeless and penniless. 
From there he went to Philadelphia, where he 
made that famous walk down Market street, with a 
loaf of bread under each arm, and a pair of socks 
under his coat. It was while in such a plight that 
for the first time he saw his future wife. After- 
ward, Franklin, for a short time, followed the oc- 
cupation of a dry goods clerk. 

In 1732 Franklin published his famous " Poor 
Eichard's Almanac." After being clerk to the 
Pensylvania General Assembly, he became Post- 
Master General. 

In 1746 Franklin invented an economical stove, 
as well as the lightning rod. In 1757 Franklin 
went to Oxford, England, where he was highly 
honored for his learning. He traveled in Holland 
and Germany. Franklin exerted all his influence 
for the Declaration of Independence. He was 
sent to Paris as " Commissioner Plenipotentiary," 
thus showing the trust confided in him by his 
countrymen. In France he produced a marked ef- 
fect, the people admiring him for his fine qualities. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 165 



Afterward he was appointed "President of Penn- 
sylvania." Franklin was the first to take observa- 
tions of the Gulf Stream. Benjamin Franklin 
died in his eighty-fifth year, in the " City of Broth- 
erly Love." He was born at the " Hub." 

The above is intended to be merely an outline 
of the life of this great man, who raised himself 
from the humble position of printer boy to some 
of the highest places in the gift of the nation, 
where, as well as in private life, he was respected 
and beloved by all who knew him. 

With Franklin's honesty, virtue and philanthro- 
py we are all familiar. The printer and scientist, 
the statesman and philosopher. If ever you 
should go to Philadelphia, go to the southeast cor- 
ner of Arch and Fifth streets, where you can view 
the resting place of that self-educated, and, as an 
eminent foreign writer said, 

" The universal man." 

On the Arch street side of Christ Church bury- 
ing-ground, through an open space in the wall, in 
which is fitted an iron railing, can be seen the 
simple "marble slab" requested in his will, and thus 
engraved, 

BENJAMIN j FBANKLIN . 

AND < 17 q 

DEBORAH ( 1(JU - 

The aperture in the wall, which affords the visi- 
tor a view of the grave, was not made until 1858. 
When La Fayette entered the city in 1824, as the 
barouche arrived at this point, the venerable Judge 
Peters, who sat beside him, pointed out the spot, at 
which the General and his son, Mr. George Wash- 



166 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

ington La Fayette, both arose and stood with un- 
covered heads. 

In visiting the Centennial in 1876 it was my 
privilege to visit that spot and view the marble 
slab. It seemed to bring many thoughts to my 
mind. 

A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE. 

George Dillwyn, of Burlington, New Jersey, an 
eminent minister of the Society of Friends, in the 
early part of the present century, was remarkable 
for spiritual discernment. Among other anecdotes 
related of him illustrating his quick perception of 
the pointing of duty, and his faithful obedience 
thereto, is the following : On one occasion, when 
sitting in his parlor with his wife, he suddenly 
arose from his seat, took his hat, and seemed about 
to go out for a walk. His wife attempted to detain 
him, informing him that it was raining, of which 
he seemed to be unaware, and that it was nearly 
dinner time. He replied that he must go ; his wife 
accordingly brought him an umbrella, and he left 
his home without apparently knowing his destina- 
tion. After walking the street for a time, he came 
opposite a house into which he felt it right to enter. 
He opened the door and walked into the front par- 
lor, in which he found two men, who appeared 
greatly astonished to see him. He sat down by 
them in silence, and after a time said that he felt 
impelled to enter that house, though for what 
purpose he could not tell, but perhaps they could 
inform him. They then told him that they had 



A TEACHER'sflJPS AND DOWNS-. 167 

bad an earnest discussion on the doctrine of a 

4 

particular Providence, which one of them had 
stoutly maintained, and the other as strenuously 
opposed. At length the latter had said that if 
George Dillwyn was to walk into the room, at that 
moment, he would believe the doctrine. He had no 
sooner said the words, "than," remarked the nar- 
rator, "you came in." After this remarkable inci- 
dent, George Dillwyn addressed them in an im- 
pressive manner, and took his leave. 

a teacher's book of thanks. 

The children were reading to-day about "John- 
ny's Book of Thanks," a little book in which he re- 
corded all the kindnesses which he received from his 
schoolmates ; and when they were unpleasant, and 
hurt his feelings by any rudeness, he was wont to 
refer to it. 

I stood by the window when all the motley crew 
were gone, watching the winter sun sinking early in 
the western sky. And somehow I kept thinking 
about the lesson I had just heard conned over, to 
which, I hope, I had listened with patient care, as 
it had been lisped and drawled in the inevitable 
manner of childhood by the thoughtless lips. Who 
but a teacher can have the remotest idea of the 
weight of care and sorrow that often weighs 
down the teacher's soul ? When every effort has 
been put forth, and every energy almost exhausted, 
how, as a matter of course, children are prone to 
take it all. 

And as to parents, how many of them delight in 



168 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

harassing the path of the teacher with every ob- 
stacle that prejudice and ignorance can suggest. 
This was the burden of my thoughts, as I stood by 
the window this particular evening. But " Johnny's 
Book of Thanks " came into my mind. " I would 
have nothing to write in one," I said, bitterly. "Try 
it, try and find something ! " suggested a gentle 
voice within. Marion gave me a hand full of nuts, 
and dear little golden haired Eva wrote on her 
slate, beneath her copy, "My teacher is a nice,, 
good teacher," and wasn't that the best of all? 

How dear to a teacher's heart is his children's 
love ! And that was only one week. Doubtless I 
shall often have occasion to refer to my " Book of 
Thanks," when worried by the thoughtless behavior 
of the heedless little folk. 

But often, when far away from the scene of my 
present labors, will I linger over it, and see again,, 
with memory's eye, the pleasant little faces that 
now surround me, some of whose names are writ- 
ten in my " book of thanks." 

The fall and winter of 1875-76 I taught my 
twenty-fourth term of school, at Union, and my 
fourth at this place. I commenced about the first 
of 11th month, 1875, for a four months term, at 
forty-five dollars per month. My school opened 
out very nicely. Quite a number of those who at- 
tended this term had been in my school at this 
place before. We had a great time at this term, 
playing " soak 'em." Have about half a dozen 
balls, and eight or ten boys, then every fellow go to 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 169 

hitting each other, and this makes it lively for alL 
This was fun for me. 

One day Jim Purcell took a tilt at that play with 
me. It had froze some the night before, and it was 
quite slippy. Jim made a motion at me ; I under- 
took to dodge, my feet went out from under me, and 
down I went in the mud. While I was down he was 
pelting it to me. Although muddy for me it was 
also fun that I enjoyed finely. It was fun for him. 

Willie Stagg attended my last winter term that 
I taught. He was an inveterate user of tobacco, 
but I am glad to say that he has quit and left it off 
entirely, and is now quite a gentleman. that 
more of the young men would follow his example 
and leave off the filthy weed. 

Emma Bishop attended this term. Emma was 
a good girl, and attended to her lessons. A whole 
school like her would be no trouble to a teacher. 
Seigel Purcell was at this term. He was an excel- 
lent speller ; he took a great interest in spelling, to 
see how many head marks he could get. I believe 
he came out ahead. Jacob Shelton attended my 
last winter here ; he was a very kind young man, 
very genteel in his manners. Frank Duncan was a 
young man that liked much fun. Oliver Cathers 
liked to whistle so well that it was almost impossi- 
ble for him to keep still, even in the school room. 
He was a very good-natured boy, with all his fun. 
Such boys must work their fun off some way, and 
teachers ought to have a great amount of patience 
always on hand. 

Mollv Murray was always full of fun, and most 



170 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

always in a bustle, first here, then there ; her tongue 
always going, at recess or at noon, like a bell-clapper. 

There was nothing particular that occurred this 
term. 

I have noticed often that when young people get 
married, they very soon get to be old, and some, 
sometimes, I believe, forget that they ever were 
children. 

If parents would be more familiar with young 
people and children, their lives would be much 
happier than otherwise. I am glad that I am but a 
boy yet, and hope I may ever feel like one. 

My school closed to good satisfaction, with love 
to all. how solemn and sad it makes one feel 
when the last day of school comes ; thus it was that 
day. 

Alice Stith was one of my pupils. She was a 
very fine young lady. Alice was much of a lady at 
school ; she comprehended very well, was a very 
good reader and speller, and I do not think that 
I ever had to speak to her at all in regard to order. 
She was quite good in most of the branches she 
was studying. 

Isaac Johnson was a very amiable young man 
who attended this term of school — quick to compre- 
hend, ready to dive deep into subjects and unravel 
them. Lydia Johnson was a very fine young wo- 
man ; very kind and innocent, never doing anything 
that was wrong. 

I now look back to those days of school at Un- 
ion, with a thoughtful heart to the Lord for His 
goodness and mercy to me as a teacher. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 171 



Isaac Johnson has passed away since the above 
school was taught ; he has gone to the land of the 
blessed, where the wicked cease from troubling and 
the weary are at rest. 

My schools that I have taught are to me green 
spots in the history of my life. How sweet the 
memory of those days is to me ! how the teach- 
er wears his life away in the school room ! 

The teacher does not here receive 

The pay for all his pains ; 
The consolation to believe 

Above he will receive his gains. 

A BIRD LESSON. 

Two little birds in the spring-time came 

To build themselves a nest; 
They flew around from tree to tree, 

That they might find the best. 

At last they spied the willow tree, 

With ivy overgrown— 
Too old and bent for birdies' nest, 

As birdies should have known. 

Around the willow now they flew, 

And in and out for days— 
And when they found a place to build, 

They sang a song of praise. 

Then all around the lawn they went 

For twigs and moss and hay, 
And cheerfully began to build, 

Nor paused till close of day. 

Day after day, industriously 

The birdies worked together; 
No one disturbed their little nest, 

And lovely was the weather, 



172 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

Until one night, the rain fell fast, 

The wind had a wailing sound, 
And when we rose next morn, we saw 

The willow on the ground. 

Early the little birds came to build- 
Wildly around they flew — 

In and out of the broken tree — 
And all'the while the wild winds blew. 

And when at last they found their nest 

On which they worked so long, 
They perched themselves on a broken bough 

And sang their sweetest song. 

CONSIDER THE LILIES. 

At the conclusion of a Quarterly meeting in Mas- 
sachusetts, 7th month 6th, 1876, Stanley Pumphrey 
commented on a pond lily held in his hand, in the 
following language : "As I was entering the meet- 
ing house, a kind friend handed me this flower. 
When first received, it was fresh and vigorous, fra- 
grant, pure and beautiful, showing what exquisite 
beauty and loveliness our Lord may bring forth 
from very unpromising materials. It is a plant 
formed in the mire, and growing in unsightly sur- 
roundings ; yet, from amidst the impure and vile, it 
has grown up and blossometh forth an emblem of 
purity. So the things which we do lightly esteem 
in this lower world, or loathe as grievous, inconve- 
nient or uncongenial, may be converted into the 
conditions of our spiritual development, and the 
beauty of the Lord our God upon us ; so, by His 
grace, may we be endued with "beauty for ashes, 
the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 173 

praise for the spirit of heaviness." By the length 
of the stem which this flower crowns, it appears 
that it has come up through deep waters, until 
finally it was unfolded to the light. What encour- 
agement is there for us unto patient continuance in 
the midst of our dark, or turbid, or storm-tossed 
surroundings, ever looking to come up higher by 
means of these to the Sun of Kighteousness, in His 
light shining clearer and clearer till we merge into 
the perfect day. We may be toiling, we may have 
to grope upward as in the darkness, but let us pa- 
tiently fight the good fight of faith, to finish our 
course, and reach the crown of righteousness which 
the Lord will give us in that day. 

"You see this flower, which at first was so fresh 
and lovely, now wilted and withering away. This 
is because it has become detached from the root 
that bore it. Beware, lest it be so with any of us 
through our not dwelling in the root, as branches 
abiding in the vine. From Christ Jesus, our root 
and foundation, we derive all our life and supply. 
Disconnected from Him, we shall wilt and wither 
and perish. Clinging to Him, we shall draw con- 
tinually upon everlasting strength, and bring forth, 
not only of His glory and beauty to adorn His doc- 
trine, but also much fruit unto life eternal. Con- 
sider the lilies, how they grow." 

WHICH LOVED BEST? 

"I love you, mother," said little John, 
Then forgetting his work, his cap went on, 
And he was off to the garden swing, 
And left her the water and wood to bring. 



174 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

" I love you, mother," said Kosa Nell; 
" I love you better than tongue can tell; " 
Then she teased and pouted full half the day, 
Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play. 

" I love you, mother," said little Pan, 
" To-day I'll help you all I can; 
How glad I am that school does n't keep ; " 
So she rocked the babe till it fell asleep. 

Then, stepping softly, she fetched the broom. 
And swept the floor and tidied the room; 
Busy and happy all day was she, 
Helpful and happy as child could be. 

" I love you, mother," again they said — 
Three little children going to bed. 
How do you think that mother guessed 
Which of them really loved her best? 

POWER OP KINDNESS. 

Miss Mason had been educated for a teacher. 
There was a school not far from where she lived, 
without a teacher. Her father having died, she 
was obliged to do something for her own living ; so 
she applied for the situation and got it. But she 
had never taught before, and she felt very awkward 
and timid in taking charge of a large school. There 
were a number of big boys in the school ; one of 
them, Joe Stanton, was the worst boy in the neigh- 
borhood. He was a poor orphan boy, rude and 
neglected, and the ring-leader of the other boys in 
mischief. The first day that Miss Mason took 
charge of the school, he gave her more trouble than 
all the other boys put together. Poor Miss Mason ! 
she was very much discouraged, and didn't know 
what to do. Joe Stanton was too big a boy for her 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 175 

to undertake to punish, and yet she felt she never 
could get along unless something was done to make 
him behave better. She resolved to try the effect 
of kindness. So, at the close of the afternoon, she 
asked him very pleasantly to stay after the classes 
were dismissed, and help her shut up the school. 
He said he would. The shutters were closed, and 
the door locked, and as she turned to go home Joe 
walked along with her. As they went on, Miss 
Mason said: "Have you any sisters, -Joseph?" 
This touched his heart. "I had one once," he said ; 
"little Mary. She was my only sister. I used to 
take care of her, and play with her, and carry her 
out of doors, and draw her in the wagon I made for 
her ; and she loved me more than any one else did, 
and always used to run to the door and meet me 
when I came home. But she's dead, and nobody 
cares for me now. Her grave is right over there ;; 
perhaps you'd like to see it some time?" "Yes, 
Joseph ; let's walk over there now," said the teacher. 
They went slowly along, still talking about Mary. 
They reached the grave, and sat down on a stone 
near it. "Oh, she's dead ! she's dead ! " he cried;, 
"and nobody cares for me now." "Yes, Joseph, 
I'll care for you," said the teacher, as she laid 
her hand gently on his uncovered head. Then she 
spoke to him of Jesus, who is the friend of the 
fatherless, and of that blessed heaven to which He 
will take those who love Him, and where they will 
meet their friends again. And then she told him of 
her own sorrows — of the loss of her father — how 
lonely she felt in the world, and how hard it was 



176 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

for her to manage that large school of big boys. 
Then Joe started to his feet and said eagerly : "But 
I'll help you, Miss Mason. I'll do anything I can 
to help you." And so he did. Joe helped Miss 
Mason, and she had no more trouble in managing 
that school. She had won his affections by her 
kindness, and he became the best boy in school. 

which is WHICH? 

"Ah, Pat," said a school mistress to a chuckle- 
headed urchin, into whose muddy brain she was 
attempting to beat the alphabet, "I'm afraid you'll 
never learn anything. Now, what is that letter, 
eh ?" " Sure, don't you know, mam ? " replied Pat. 
"I thought you would have recollected that much, 
because it has a dot over the top of it." "Och, 
ma'am, I mind it well ; but sure I thought it was a 
fly speck." "Well, now, remember, Pat, it is I." 
"You, ma'am?" "No, no; not U, but I." "Not 
I, but you, ma'am? How's that?" "Not U, but 
I, blockhead." "Oh, yes; faith now I have it, 
ma'am; you mean to say that you, not I, am a 
blockhead." "Fool! fool!" exclaimed the peda- 
goguess, almost bursting with rage. "Just as you 
plaze," replied Pat; "fool or blockhead, it's no 
matter to me which ye are, so long as ye are free to 
own it." 

WHAT TO DO WITH A WHEELBARROW. 

If you have occasion to use a wheelbarrow, be 
sure to leave it, when you are through with it, in 
front of the house, with the handles toward the 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 177 



door. A wheelbarrow is the most complicated thing 
to fall over on the face of the earth. A man will 
fall over one when he would never think of falling 
over anything else ; he never knows when he has 
got through falling over it, either ; first it will tan- 
gle his legs and his arms, turn over with him and 
rear up in front of him, and just as he pauses to 
congratulate himself, it takes a new turn, and 
scoops more skin off of him, and he begins to evo- 
lute anew, and bump himself on fresh places. It 
is the most inoffensive object there is. A man 
never ceases to fall over a wheelbarrow until it 
turns completely on its back, or brings up against 
something it cannot upset. It is more dangerous 
than a locomotive, and no man is secure with one 
unless he has a tight hold of its handles, and is 
sitting down on something solid. A wheelbarrow 
has its uses, no doubt ; but in its leisure moments, 
it is the greatest annoyance to true dignity in the 
world. 

Eve was the Bone-a-part. 

The table of interest, is the dinner table. 

The winter of 1876-77 was my twenty-fifth term, 
and was taught at Garden Dell. My school com- 
menced the first of 11th month, for a term of four 
months. Alys Moorman and Erasmus Folger were 
two of the directors, and very good ones, too, they 
were. My health had been poor for a few months 
past. The first morning of school was a dark, 
damp, cloudy day. I went feeling very unwell, but 

12 



178 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

began to improve right away. I have felt a near- 
ness to the children of Garden Dell since my first 
term of school there, a few years ago. I was so 
glad to meet with them again. The school house 
was small, and we were very soon crowded; we 
soon had about sixty pupils in attendance, and were 
so crowded that I had to move a part of the pupils 
when I went to hear a class recite. 

We got along very nicely in the school room. It 
always takes a few days at the beginning of a term 
for the pupils to mate off. Then at playtime was 
the time for them to have their fun, and there is no 
fun that is so innocent as a lot of boys and girls on 
the playground, each one full of fun, life and vigor. 
At playtime is when a teacher may see, very often, 
how children are trained at home. 

The pupils took hold of the work of trying to im- 
prove their minds very well. At the beginning of a 
term it is not much trouble to get the children to 
take an interest in their lessons, but after these 
things begin to get a little old, then it will begin to 
tax the teacher as to the best way to keep them in- 
terested in their lessons. 

That which will be good for one class will not be 
good for another, so a teacher has not only to watch 
his classes, but the deportment of the school in gen- 
eral. Every word and action of a teacher is 
watched very closely by each pupil. There is one 
thing that I have endeavored to watch very closely 
in my teaching, and that is not to say anything 
out of the way or slightingly in regard to the parents 
of the pupils. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 179 

This last summer was the Centennial. My wife 
and I went and visited it, at Philadelphia, and after 
my school had been in progress a while, the chil- 
dren wanted me to give them a lecture in regard to 
what I had seen. Nearly all of the pupils came to 
the school house, and quite a number of the people 
of the neighborhood came also. We had a nice 
time. I talked to them quite a while. None of 
them got sleepy or tired, and I believe that I taught 
them a great amount, that evening, that they will 
never forget. 

We had some spelling schools during this term ; 
we had very good times. The scholars took quite 
an interest in trying to learn to spell. We need 
more good spellers than we have got in this country. 
Teachers do not spend time enough in having the 
pupils study the spelling lessons. As I have said 
before, in proportion as children learn to spell, so 
will they be proficient in reading. We have not, in 
this day and age of the world, as many good read- 
ers as we had thirty and forty years ago. Why? 
Because they then studied how to spell, and spell 
correctly. Would that teachers would spend more 
time than they do in that line. 

There are always, in every school, some pupils 
who try to learn all they can, and will make use of 
every means in their power to store their minds 
with useful knowledge, while others do not care, as 
the saying is, " whether school keeps or not." So it 
was in this school ; there were those who tried to 
succeed, and some who did not. 

One day I told them that I wanted each one of 



180 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 






theni to write a short essay on some subject that 
they knew something about, and nearly every pupil 
wrote a short piece on some subject, all of them in- 
teresting, and some very instructive. Some of the 
little fellows wvote but a few lines, but they were 
good. 

Ophia Thompson was a pupil at this school. It 
was a little difficult for her to comprehend her les- 
sons, but she would hang on until she got it fixed 
in her mind. She was always in a good humor, 
and that is half the battle with any.one. I clo not 
know that I ever saw her out of humor at school. 
She was always full of life and fun. I wish there 
were more like Ophia — her life must have been a 
happy one. As the poet says, our life is what we 
make it. I think Ophia had a desire to be a school 
teacher. May she be one ! 

Eosetta Haworth was quite wild ; always full of 
fun, and peeping around to see what she could see. 
If ever she done any mischief, her eyes were sure 
to tell on her. She was naturally good and kind to 
all ; she was always picking on me at play time. 
I loved to torment her, because she never would 
get out of humor. She was very good to try to have 
her lessons well committed, and to store her mind 
with useful knowledge. 

Frank Stout was a young woman of amiable 
qualities ; not only Frank by name, but frank and. 
kind by nature ; very much of a lady at all times, 
very attentive to her studies, a good speller and 
reader — good, I may say, in all the branches that 
she studied. She always had her lessons well com- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 181 

mitted to memory. She studied hard, but received 
her reward as she went along. I felt a near sym- 
pathy for her, as her mother and father had both 
gone the way of the earth. I was always glad to 
see Frank at school. 

Johnny Johnson was a young man who attend- 
ed this term, or part of it. Johnny studied well 
during the time he attended, and was very attentive 
to all the rules of the school. Young men have a 
better chance, even out of school, to store their 
minds with useful knowledge than young women. 

Stephen Hendricks, the tallest young man that 
there was in the school, was as good in the school 
as be was tall. I have often thought he was an 
exception. He studied hard, and improved his 
mind well. 

Cassey Johnson, a very fine young lady, was a 
pupil at this term ; she put in every moment in time 
of school at her studies. She took great pride in 
having her lessons well committed, and I never 
knew her to have a poor lesson. She not only stud- 
ied hard to have her lessons well to recite, but to 
improve her mind also. If teachers had all such 
pupils as Cassey, they would never have any trouble 
in regard to order. If that were so with all pupils, 
then teaching would be rid of the bitter that is often 
connected with it. 

Mattie Weeks, although a little girl at my other 
school here at this place, is now at this term a 
young woman. Mattie was very quick to under- 
stand, and she studied hard to learn all she could. 
She was always very steady and quiet ; it seemed to 



182 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

do her a great deal of good to laugh ; she enjoyed 
fun largely. Mattie was a good girl, not only at 
school but every other place you found her. Mattie 
was very good in arithmetic ; she studied hard, and 
was very attentive to her studies at school. 

Mattie Folger was about grown at this term of 
school. It done Mattie as much good to laugh as 
any person I ever saw, and she was always ready 
for a big laugh. She was one of those kind that 
always enjoyed fun, and if there was anything 
going on in the school room, she was about the first 
to find it out. It took hard work for her to under- 
stand arithmetic, yet she worked away with the 
determination to succeed ; and she will, if she keeps 
on with the same vim that she had then. 

Ellen Dale was the tallest young woman that 
attended this term. She was a good girl, and tried 
hard to learn all that she could. She did not get 
to attend the whole term ; had to quit awhile. Ellen 
was a very good speller : she paid more attention to 
that than most anything else. Arithmetic was dif- 
ficult for her to understand, but she studied hard to 
master it. 

Eunice Hill attended the school that I taught 
here before. She is now a young woman grown, 
and has come to be a school teacher. She is 
taking an interest in the work of teaching ; may she 
go on in the good work, instructing the young minds 
and training them in the right direction. A school 
teacher wields a powerful influence over the young 
and rising generation. They occupy a high posi- 
tion ; how much they need to be thankful. May 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 183 

I be more thankful, saith my heart, to my 
Master. 

Sadie Roberts was a young girl at this school. 
Sadie was a good girl at my school ; was a good 
reader ; she was a great hand to play and have fun 
at play-time; was always cheerful and happy. 

Mary Folger was a good little girl at school ; 
almost like an old woman, so still and quiet — never 
doing anything wrong, it seemed like. 

Josie Roberts was nearly a young man grown, at 
this school. He worked very hard in the school 
room to have all his lessons well committed. He 
wanted to store his mind with useful knowledge. 
May he be rewarded for his labors. 

Jerrie Ha worth, a young man, was at this school. 
Jerrie was full of mischief, (as all Jerries are.) He 
relished fun, as a hungry boy would bread, but he 
studied hard. He was nearly grown, and he seemed 
to appreciate the privilege of learning. Boys may 
spend their time in school idly, but when they get 
nearly grown then they see what they go to school 
for. Jerrie worked hard in arithmetic. 

Elwood Haworth was all life and fun. He was 
always ready for anything. There are most always 
in every school a boy or two who are good natured, 
and the girls must pick at them and keep up the life 
at recess. Elwood was the very boy for that ; if 
there was any playing to be done, he was the boy 
for that, and he kept things lively about there. 

Isaac Shaffer attended the school that I taught 
here before. He was a steady boy, somewhat dry 
in his expressions, and studied well in school. It 



184 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

seemed to take hard work on his part to get to un- 
derstand, but he worked with a will to accomplish 
whatever he undertook. 

Floy Smith attended my first school at Garden 
Dell. She was a very attentive pupil in the school 
room, and was studying to become a school teacher. 
She has become an excellent teacher, and a good 
girl she is, too. 

Elida Geason was a young woman at this term. 
Elida was somewhat reserved, but very willing to 
obey all orders at school. She improved her time 
well in the school room; was a good reader and 
speller ; studied her spelling lessons thoroughly, and 
therefore always had them well committed. 

George Dale was a la.rge young man of his age, 
good natured and jolly. It was hard work for him 
to learn his lessons, but he never got discouraged if 
he did not get along very fast. 

Will Hendricks was at the most of this term. He 
studied much better this term than he did at the 
other term. He now began to see the advantage of 
improving his time. 

Oscar McNeis was a little boy, but was as much 
of a gentleman as you would often see anywhere. 
He had the turn of a little man, and had been well 
trained at home. May he grow up to be a good and 
a great man. 

George Weeks and Frank Folger were two little 
boys, and they were fine little fellows. 

Sarah Stagg was a fine little girl. I felt a sym- 
pathy for her, as she had no father or mother living. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 185 

Sarah studied very well ; her eyes were a little weak, 
but she done the best she could. 

Willie Stout was full of fun and mischief, but 
was very quick to comprehend anything ; as much 
so as any boy I nearly ever saw. George, his 
brother, was nearly always grinning, and as lively 
as a cricket ; read very well, for a boy of his 
age. 

Eddy Owens was a little boy that went a part 
of the way to school by himself ! He studied very 
hard when at his seat ; was a good speller for a boy 
of his age or size. He would go as deliberately as 
an old man. 

Willie means was a very quick little fellow, a 
boy who was determined to accomplish whatsoever 
he undertook. Was very attentive to his lessons ; 
was a very plucky little fellow. He had a brother 
that was a very fat boy, and was as lively as a 
cricket. At recess he was always running and 
playing, and having a good time in general. They 
had a sister who was at this term of school. She 
was somewhat backward, but read very well, and 
was very much of a little lady. 

There was a little boy, a son of Alys Moorman, 
that was about as full of fun and frolic as I have 
ever seen in all my travels. He could learn very 
well when he would put his mind down to it. He 
had a little sister that was blind, I think, in one eye. 
I always pitied her— she seemed as though she 
hated it so much. At school, I never let on that I 
see any defect in anyone. I have tried hard, in my 
teaching, to treat all alike, as near as I possibly 



186 A TEACIIEK'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

could, and I believe that the Lord has helped me 
very much in that direction. 

John Manlove had two very nice girls, and I 
was always very glad to see them of a morning. 
There was one one of them that was quick to learn, 
but the other was slow and dull of comprehension, 
•and with difficulty learned her lessons. Little 
Benny Beeson Manlove was very precise in every- 
thing he did, and took a great interest in doing as 
I told him. 

Alvia Harris was a half-grown boy. It was very 
hard for him to learn. Lie desired to, but it seemed 
as though he could not ; but still he kept on trying. 
There were two of the Harris girls who attended 
this school. If there was anything to be seen they 
wanted to see it, but in time of school they were 
very quiet and willing to obey all orders. 

Lizzie Shaffer was a very modest sort of a girl, 
not much of a hand to talk, very much reserved, 
very attentive to her lessons, and tried hard to 
learn all that she could. Lincoln Shaffer was a 
great hand for sport and play. George Shaffer was 
as full of fun as he could possibly be, never too 
tired for a game of ball ; nearly always first on the 
ground in the morning, in order to have as much 
time for sport as possible. 

Owen Johnson was a little fellow that took a 
great interest in spelling and working for the head 
mark. My rule in the spelling class was, if I saw 
anyone whispering during recitation, he had to go 
to the foot of the class. One day he happened to 
whisper, and I caught him at it, and he had to go 



A TEACHEK's UPS AND DOWNS. 187 

foot. It nearly killed him, but he soon got over it 
and rallied again, and watched the point closely ; 
but he did not talk any more, and I think he took 
the lead in head marks. 

Mary Berry was a wild one, just as full of mis- 
chief as she could be. Nearly every time that I 
looked over the house I could see her eyes ; they 
were always peeping for some mischief. One thing 
in her favor was, she nearly always had her lessons 
well committed. She always had an answer for 
every one. 

Linnie Berry was a little old woman, or seemed 
so. She was very quiet, and hardly ever said any- 
thing unless some one asked her a question. In 
spelling and reading she was very precise, and sel- 
dom ever made an error. 

Peter Berry attended this school for a while, 
though he was about grown ; he came for the pur- 
pose of learning, and made good use of every mo- 
ment. 

Alfred Berry was a young man, but was atten- 
tive to his lessons, and was very good in arithmetic, 
spelling and reading. Alf. was a good boy at 
school, kind and agreeable to all, and pleasant in 
his manners, and worked hard to learn all he pos- 
sibly could. 

Charlie and Willie Berry were two fine little fel- 
lows ; peart and lively. 

School closed to good satisfaction. 



188 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



A PRAYER. 



Amid the world's vast wilderness, 

Wandering far and wide, 
Through days of danger and distress, 

Lord, keep me at Thy side. 
Let not earth's mirage — phantoms fair, 

Allure my feet to stray; 
Help me on Thee to cast each care ; 

Oh, lead me in Thy way! 



To Thee I come for daily grace — 

For strength to conquer ill. 
Grant me, Lord, to see Thy face, 

And do Thy holy will. 
I come to Thee to cleanse each stain,. 

And make me pure within. 
Oh Lord, my fainting heart sustain — 

"Wash me from every sin. 

Weary with conflict, pain and grief, 

By many a toil oppressed, 
To thee I haste for quick relief, 

In Thee alone is rest. 
I lay my burden at Thy feet, 

Shelter me 'neath Thy wing; 
There pain is ease, and labor sweet, 

And death has lost its sting. 



Then, Lord, when earth's sad day is past, 

To thee may I arise; 
And, while eternity shall last, 

Dwell with Thee in the skies. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 189 



IN MEMORIAM. 

In memory of Eliza, daughter of William and 
Cordelia Gather, aged 12 years, 4 months and 28 
days. Lida attended my school at Union, and I 
spoke of her death in connectien with that school. 

Dear Lida, she has passed away, 

Gone to her home above; 
With us she could no longer stay, 

This gentle child of love. 

The Lord has taken her away 

From this vain world of strife; 
In heaven transplanted, there to stay 

And bloom in eternal life. 

Her body lies within the tomb, 

Her spirit has gone home — 
Just as the rose bursts forth to bloom, 

As the wintry storms do come. 

No more her form we will behold, 

Nor see her smiling face; 
For death came with his arms so cold 

And left a vacant place. 

A place this world can never fill, 
Though friends around us crowd; 

We'll think of thee, dear Lida, still, 
Though wrapped within the shroud. 

With tearful eyes we look around, 

Our hearts are filled with pain; 
No more we'll hear thy footsteps sound 

Within the door again. 



190 A TEACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



Father, mother, brother, sister, 
Thou hast left on earth to mourn; 

Yet in heaven we can meet thee, 
There where sorrows never come. 



THE THIRST OF THE SOUL. 
" My soul thirsteth for God." — Psalm xlii, 2. 

To be athirst for God is better than to be satis- 
fied with any earthly portion. For though the soul 
afar from God can never find true satisfaction, it 
may be deceived by a short-lived appearance of 
being satisfied. If David in those early days knew 
his own soul so well, and knew his God so well that 
this cry was continually the expression of his de- 
sires, how much more should it be our cry, now that 
God has revealed Himself more clearly, and has 
come nearer to us through His own Son, Jesus 
Christ! "My soul thirsteth for God, the living 
God." The prayer is met by a special answer : 
"Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, 
let him come unto me and drink." Thousands, and 
hundreds of thousands, can testify that they have 
thirsted, and have come to Jesus, and have proved 
how able He is to satisfy the soul ; it has been no 
delusion ; He has heard them, and has given them 
that peace, and grace, and strenth, and hope, which 
they vainly sought elsewhere, and have found in 
Him. For Jesus is sufficient; He is "God, the 
living God." He was once on earth, and knew what 
it was to be athirst, and His love and pity are a 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 191 

never-failing source of refreshment to those who> 
come unto Him and put their trust in Him. If any 
reader doubts this, let him put it to the test of his 
own experience ; feeling himself to be athirst, unsat- 
isfied, ill at ease, weary of the world and of himself, 
let him listen to those who were once like him and 
are so no longer, because they have gone to Jesus. 
"Let the Spirit and the Bride say, come. And let 
him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let 
him take the water of life freely." 

OFF TO THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 

The spring of 1879, Melissa M. Hill, John W. 
Hill, and my wife and I, started on a religious \?isit 
among some of the tiibes that reside there. The 
first night we stopped at Quawpaw Mission. This 
is a very large mission, conducted by Asa C. and 
Emeline Tuttle, two faithful workers, and have been 
for ten years. There were about seventy-five Modoc. 
Ottawa and Quawpaw children. They have their 
family gatherings at night, and we all met in the 
children's dining room for worship. There were 
several songs sung by the children, and some 
prayers by some of the party. I talked to the chil- 
dren awhile, asking them questions ; they in return 
asked me some. When they would ask me a ques- 
tion that I could not answer, it tickled them very 
much, and we spent the evening very pleasantly ; I 
hope to the satisfaction of us all. The next morn- 
ing we started for the Agency, in company with 
Emeline Tuttle and Eli Moore and his wife. In 
about five or six miles we saw, on the west side of 



192 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 



Spring river and just on the edge of the prairie, the 
village of the rebel Nes-per-ces, Captain Joseph and 
his band, their wigwams looking very picturesque. 
When we got up close to them we could see them 
with their blankets wrapped around them. Some 
of the little Indians were throwing darts, and they 
threw them just at the place they aimed for them 
to go. The road ran just by the edge of their camp ; 
we stopped a few moments. An old squaw was sit- 
ting on a little piece of blanket, with her baby ; the 
little thing looked as though it was cold. I said if 
that was a white child it would kill it to have it out 
in the cold in that way. Emeline Tuttle asked her 
to bring the baby to her ; she did so. Emeline took 
it in her arms —the child was real cold. We started 
on and met Captain Joseph. We all stopped and 
shook hands with him ; he said, "How?" and we 

said, "How?" 

He was as fine a specimen of a man as I have 
ever seen, portly and well built. As we drove on 
through the timber toward the river, we met several 
of the squaws, carrying water from the river. When 
we got to the river there were several of the little 
fellows in the water bathing. They seemed to be 
as familiar with the water as if they had been ducks. 
We watched them a while, and then drove on to- 
ward the Agency. About ten o'clock we came in 
sight of the other band of Nesperces, with their 
tents pitched on the prairie by the side of a large 
spring. We had a meeting at eleven o'clock, and 
nearly the entire band attended. 

There were two large rooms, and folding doors 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 193 

between them ; they were folded back. The In- 
dians were brought into one of the rooms, and sat 
down on the floor. The other room was filled with 
Indians and white people. 

There was a minister among this part of the 
Nesperces. He read, in broken English, the fifty- 
nth chapter of Isaiah ; he then spoke to them in 
their own language. I could not tell what he was 
saying, but I admired the earnestness with which 
he spoke. After he was through speaking I spoke 
to them a while, and one of the young men inter- 
preted for me into their language. Then Steamboat 
Frank, of the Modocs, interpreted into their lan- 
guage. I think I could have listened to him all day. 
Though I did not understand the words he spoke, 
his gestures were very good, and perfectly natural — 
he seemed to enter into the spirit of what he was 
saying. I love to hear the Indians sing — they are so 
earnest in it. 

After meeting, the Indians came and shook hands 
with us, and each said " how ? " We replied by the 
same word, " how? " 

One of the squaws had a papoose on her back, 
and when she came to shake hands with me, she 
turned half around, and the little one put out its 
little hand to shake, too. They went out and to 
their homes very quietly. It was an impressive 
sight. 

After dinner we went to the Wyandotte mission, 
where we were to have a meeting at four o'clock. 
When we got to the mission we found a great many 
Indians there, and we had a good meeting. I met 

13 



194 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

many of my old Indian friends, and many of the 
children who used to attend my school here. They 
were all glad to see me. 

We had meeting at night ; there were many In- 
dians at that meeting. There was a young Wyan- 
dotte woman, who shook hands with many of us r 
and rode part of the way to her home ; she then got 
out of the wagon and mounted a horse, behind a 
young man. The horse threw both of them, and 
she fell against a stump, fracturing her skull. In 
less than an hour and a half from the time that 
meeting closed, that young woman was a corpse ! 

Second-day, we visited the Moclocs. Had a talk 
with Steamboat Frank; he said, "Me want more 
good; get better man ; my people better all." We 
then went to the Nesperces camp, and went into some 
of the wigwams. We crawled into Yellow Bear's 
tent ; he was lying down, but he sat up in a moment 
and looked me straight in the face. I put out my 
hand and said, "How?" shook hands with him, and 
then went to his squaw and shook hands with her. 
She had been sick, but was now better. They had 
a number of very nice buffalo robes in their tent, to- 
lie on. Their fire was in the middle of the tent, and 
there was a small hole in the top of the wigwam for 
the smoke to go out ; the smoke would go right up 
to the top and out. They sleep with their feet to 
the fire, and seem to sleep nicely. 

The relatives of Virginia Hicks requested me to- 
stay until eight o'clock, Third-day morning, to at- 
tend the funeral at the Wyandotte meeting house. 
There were many people in attendance. It was a 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 195 

very solemn time, indeed ; many hearts were ten- 
dered. We had to leave as soon as meeting broke, 
as we had a meeting among the Ottawas ; it was 
appointed for ten o'clock, but we did not get there 
until nearly twelve. They were still waiting for us. 
We went in and had a very good meeting among 
them. When we got there we found Asa C. Tuttle 
there talking to the people. Asa had brought a 
lunch for us. After meeting we visited the Ottawa 
burying ground ; they take very good care of it. 
Asa and Emeline Tuttle have three children buried 
here — all they have had. 

After lunch, we started for the Peoria school, to 
have meeting among them. George Lindley was 
teaching for them. They have a very fine school 
house — well finished and furnished. The school 
was doing well. We had a nice time talking to the 
children. Melissa spoke very nicely, too. I drew 
a picture on the blackboard of two houses ; one of 
them built on a rock, the other on sand — the one on 
the sand was falling. The rains were falling, the 
winds blowing and beating upon those houses, as it 
was given in our Savior's sermon on the Mount. I 
then made the application to the children, that those 
who were good and loved the Lord would be like the 
man who built his house on the rock ; the winds of 
adversity might blow upon it, but it would not fall, 
because it was founded upon a rock. But bad boys 
and girls were like the man that built his house 
upon the sand, and when the rains and storms of 
trial and adversity come upon them, they are lost. 
So is the man's house that is founded upon the sand. 



196 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

We went from the Peoria to the Quapaw mis- 
sion, and had another good meeting among the 
children and workers. After meeting, going out to 
the yard, I met a little Ottawa boy, who told me he 
wanted to speak to me on the porch ; I went back 
with him, and, putting his arms around my neck,he 
made one of the most earnest and impressive prayers, 
the burden of which was for myself and family, that 
it has ever been my privilege to listen to. He 
then asked me not to forget him in my far-off home. 
It was the most touching appeal I have ever heard. 

We went from the mission to Spring Eiver 
Monthly Meeting of Friends, in Cherokee County, 
Kansas. Had a good meeting. From here we 
went to Timbered Hills to a meeting at night. Held 
two meetings, then returned home. Was gone a 
week, and held and attended seventeen meetings. 

THE CHEMISTRY OF TOBACCO. 

Prof. Johnson, of Durham, England, gives the 
following analysis of tobacco, in his " Chemistry 
of Common Life " : 

Tobacco has three ingredients, a volatile oil, a 
volatile alkali, and an empyreumatic oil. 

The volatile oil, called nicotianin, has the odor 
of tobacco, and possesses a bitter taste. On the 
mouth and throat it produces a sensation similar to 
that caused by tobacco smoke. When applied to 
the nose it occasions sneezing, and when taken in- 
ternally, it gives rise to giddiness, nausea, and an 
inclination to vomit. 

The volatile alkali, called nicotma, has the odor 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 197 

of tobacco, and an acrid, burning taste. It is one 
of the most deadly of all poisons, approaching in its 
activity the strongest preparation of prussic acid. 
A single drop is sufficient to kill a dog. Its vapor 
is so irritating that it is difficult to breathe in a 
room in which a single drop has been evaporated. 
One hundred pounds of dry tobacco yield seven 
pounds of nicotin. In smoking one hundred grains 
of tobacco, or about one quarter of an ounce, there 
may be drawn into the mouth two grains, or more, 
of the most subtle of poisons known. 

The empyreumatic oil is acrid and disagreeable 
to the taste, narcotic and poisonous. One drop ap- 
plied to the tongue of a cat brought on convulsions, 
and in two minutes occasioned death. 

A worthy Quaker wrote thus : "I expect to pass 
through this world but once. If, therefore, there 
be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I 
can do to any fellow human being, let me do it now. 
Let me not defer or neglect it, for I will not pass 
this way again." 

THE PRAYERS OF OUR LORD. 

Christ, whenever he did anything of importance, 
always prayed beforehand. First, when He was 
baptized, Luke hi, 2 ; Second, before He chose His 
disciples, Luke vi, 12 ; third, whenever He heard 
from heaven, Luke ix, 28 ; fourth, the raising of 
Lazarus, John xi, 41. 

There are a few words that furnish a key to 
every book in the Bible : Matthew spoke of Christ 
as the son of David, come to take up his posses- 



198 A TBACHEE'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

sions ; Mark treats hirn as a servant of God ; Luke 
as the Son of Man, the Great Physician, and John 
alone as the Son of God, a stranger on the earth. 
The Acts treat of the work of the apostles. The 
epistles unfold Christianity. Kevelations, the only 
book of the Bible that opens with a benediction 
upon him that reads. 

My twenty-sixth term of school was taught at 
Georgia City, Jasper County, Missouri, the fall and 
winter of 1877-78. I commenced about the first 
of 10th month. We moved there a few days before 
school was to commence. School opened out with 
quite a number of pupils. The house was well 
seated and fixed off on the inside, with desk, stove, 
blackboard, and all things needful. The most of 
the pupils were well supplied with books, and all 
of them seemed as if they wanted to learn all they 
possibly could. 

On the 29th day of November, or 11th month, 
we had no school, and the people of the place con- 
cluded that they would have a supper for the bene- 
fit of the sabbath school at this place. They had all 
those who would, bring in something for the sup- 
per, and all those who attended the school paid ten 
cents, and those who did not attend paid fifty cents. 
The victuals that had been donated were spread 
out, and we had a good time. 

John C. Guinn's folks had a very fine, large 
cake, baked in the shape of a cross. Bro. Guinn 
was carrying it from his house to the school house, 
when he stumbled and came very near falling. He 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 199 



thought it would never do to have the cake spoil, 
•so he thought if he fell he would take the conse- 
quences, so he could only keep the cake sound ; he 
said it kept him in a strain for fear he would spoil 
it, but he got there safe and sound with it. 

We had a nice time. The weather was very cold, 
but there were people enough to fill the house nearly 
full. Jacob Myers was a great hand for blackberry 
pie ; he got hold of some and did not know it ; they 
laughed at him much for eating blackberry pie and 
not knowing it. 

There were some of the young women that had 
large cakes there : Lizzie Myers, Lydia McCullough, 
and Linnie Lawhead; they were fine, and very 
large cakes. 

They received about twenty dollars to buy paper, 
and such things, for their Sabbath school. There 
were quite a number of young men and women at 
this term. Some people told me when I went to 
'Georgia to teach, that I could not have a school, 
neither could I hold any meetings there. But we 
had some very good times at meeting there. About 
the middle of the term we had an exhibition, and it 
was a very good one, too. The pieces were well 
committed and well said. Many people were in 
attendance. This was a five months term, and my 
school was very large ; somewhere near seventy 
pupils were enrolled. 

Lydia McGullough was a young woman, grown ; 
was somewhat reserved, and very attentive to her 
lessons. 

Linnie Lawhead attended this term a part of the 



200 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

time. She was from Iowa, where she had followed 
teaching. She was a good scholar and pupil. 

Lizzie Myers was another young woman. She- 
was full of fun and mischief, always wanting to see 
everything that went on in the school room. 

Ally McCullough was very quiet and inoffensive, 
and very attentive to her studies ; you would hardly 
have known she was there, unless you happened to 
see her. 

Emma Blake, a very neat, kind and affectionate 
young woman, and a splendid singer ; her voice- 
was different from any other person's. She was a 
good reader and speller, and was good in arithmetic. 
She was also a good declaimer ; spoke clear, distinct 
and plain. 

There were two of the Goodnough girls, Augusta 
and Sarah, that were very lady-like at school ; they 
seemed to know just how to behave in school. 

Jesse Eiley was a young man of amiable quali- 
ties ; he studied hard to learn all that he could. 
Arithmetic was difficult for him to manage, but he 
persevered right on in the work, with the motto, "If 
at first you don't succeed, try, try again." 

John Pdley was another fine young man ; he 
knew how to behave in school ; he improved his 
time well, and seemed to realize what he went to 
school for. 

Anna Gillott, a young French girl, was very 
much of a lady in her deportment. She was kind, 
and a splendid scholar ; not many better than her 
in the country ; she was good in arithmetic ; studied 
hard. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 201 



Charley Guirm was a boy probably thirteen or 
fourteen years old ; he missed but a few days, and 
that on account of sickness. Johnny Guinn was a 
staving little fellow ; he wore his hair away down 
his back, about midsides of him. Johnny was ready 
at all times to do that which was right ; he was a 
great little fellow to declaim, or to do anything, and 
was a good speller, for a boy of his age and size, 
Lottie Guinn was a little girl, and could say Mr. 
Hubbard about as cute as any person I nearly ever 
heard. My little girls, Linnie and Edna, and Lottie, 
were great cronies, always wanting to be together. 

Alvin Fugett was a very fine young man, at this 
term. He was much of a gentleman, in appearance 
and manners. He could not always explain or tell 
what he knew as quick as some others could, but 
he always I believe done for the best. Wish there 
were more boys like Al. 

Carrie Head and her sister were two fine little 
girls ; I was always glad to see them at school. 

Mollie and Lizzie Carr were two little girls that 
were as peart as two little crickets, arid were always 
singing, just as happy as they could be. 

Charlie McCullough was a lively boy to have at 
school — full of life and fun. I could always tell 
when Charley was absent. 

Albert Enos was a very quick boy to understand 
anything in regard to his lessons. Vina Enos, his 
sister, was a peart girl ; very much of a lady all the 
time ; somewhat backward. 

Jim Myers was a young man that loved his fun 
as well as any of them. I liked to have Jim at 



■202 a teacher's UPS AND downs. 

school. He was good in arithmetic, and quick for 
anything. 

Dick Myers was full of fun and mischief, and 
loved to play at play-time as well as any boy I ever 
saw, but in the school room he studied. Eosa 
Myers was a little girl full of life and sport. 

Eassie and Holtie, my two little boys, went to 
school here ; they were always, very quiet in the 
school room. They studied well, for little fellows. 

Minnie Harden was a young girl here at this 
term. She was a good speller and reader ; she took 
pains with what she done. She was one of the best 
hands to act in dialogues that I have ever seen — 
everything was natural and life-like with her. 

Joe Smith, a young man, was steady in the 
school room, but somewhat wild and full of fun out 
of school. 

Sam and Andy Hutton were two boys that were 
well trained at home. They had a sister named 
Nancy. They were fine children. It is no trouble 
for a teacher to tell how children have been trained 
at home. The children who had good training at 
home, were no trouble at school. 

Fred Finieum was a little boy whose mother was 
dead. I felt sorry for him. He and his father 
lived together. He was a good boy at school. 

There were many others that I might speak of, 
hut have not time or space here. Those that I do 
not speak of, I think just as much of as I do of the 
others. Many of their names have slipped my 
memory. 

My school closed with an exhibition and exami- 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. '203 



nation. We had a pleasant time this winter. School 
closed to good satisfaction, with love to all. 

HOW HE KEPT HOUSE. 

Old Granley declared by all the leaves 

That were upon the tree — tree, 
He'd do more work in one short day 

Than his wife could do in three— three. 
Mrs. Granley she came in, she says: 

" You shall have trouble now— now. 
For you shall do the work in the house. 

And I'll go follow the plow — plow ; 
But you must milk the muley cow, 

For fear she will go dry— dry, 
And you must feed the little pig 

Which is within the stye— stye; 
And you must put the cream in the churn, 

Which is within the frame— frame ; 
And you must see to the fat in the pot, 

That it doesn't all go in the flame— flame; 
And you must feed the speckled hen 

For fear she'l lay astray — astray: 
And you must reel the spool of yarn 

That I spun yesterday— day." 
Mrs. Granley took the whip in her hand 

To go and follow the plow— plow. 
Old Granley took the pail in his hand 

To milk the muley cow — cow. 
The muley cow, she kicked, she raved, 

She rumbled with her nose— nose; 
She kicked old Granley on the shin 

Till the blood ran down to his toes— toes. 
He went to watch the speckled hen, 

For fear she'd lay astray — astray ; 
But he forgot the spool of yarn 

His wife spun yesterday— day; 
He went to put the cream in the churn 



204 a teacher's UPS AND downs. 

Which was within the frame — frame, 
But he forgot the fat in the pot, 

And it all went in the flame — flame; 
He looked east, he looked west, 

He looked to the sun — sun, 
He thought it was the longest day — 

And his wife would never come — come. 
And then he declared by all the leaves 

That were upon the tree — tree, 
His wife could do more work in a day 

Than he could do in three — three. 

The Welsh word for milk is " ererw ; " let's hear 
you pronounce it. 

A little girl, being told that the name of the 
King of Siam was Chu Long Korn, exclaimed, " Ma 7 
is he fond of succotash? " 

AN UPSETTING SIN. 

A negro prayed earnestly that he and his col- 
ored brethren might be saved from their "upset- 
ting sins." " Brudder," replied one of his friends., 
at the close of the meeting, "you aint got de hang 
ob dat ar word; it's fresettin' — not wpsettin'. 

"Brudder," said the first, "If dat's so, its so ; 
but I was prayin' de Lord to sabe us from de sin ob 
intoxication, and if dat aint an upsettin' sin, I 
dunno what am ! " 

All that lies beneath the sun, God knoweth. 

bishop Simpson's life saved by prayer. 

I remember once when there was a conference 
at Mount Vernon, at which I was present, Bishop 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 20t) 

Janes was presiding one afternoon, and after read- 
ing a dispatch stating that Bishop Simpson was 
dying in Pittsburg, asked the conference to unite in 
prayer that his life might be saved. We knelt 
down, and Mr. Taylor, the great street preacher of 
California, led in one of his beautiful prayers. 
After the first few sentences, in which I joined with 
all my heart, my mind seemed to be at ease, and I 
did not pay much attention to the rest of the prayer 
only to notice its beauty. When we arose from 
our knees, I turned to a brother and said, ''Bishop 
Simpson will not die ; I feel it." I then told him 
how the feeling came over me, and he assured me 
that he had experienced the same impression. 
The word was passed around, and over thirty min- 
isters who were present said they had experienced 
the same feeling. I took my book and made a 
note of the hour and circumstances. 

Several months afterward I met Bishop Simp- 
son and asked him what he did to recover his health. 
He did not know, but the physician had said it was 
a miracle. He said that one afternoon when at 
the point of death, the doctor left him saying that 
he should be left alone for half an hour. At the 
end of that time the doctor returned, and im- 
mediately noticed a great change in the patient. 
He was startled and asked the family what they 
had done for the Bishop, and they replied nothing 
at all. That half hour, I found by making allow- 
ences for difference in localities, was just the time 
when we were praying for him at Mount Vernon. 
From that time on he steadily improved and has 



206 a teacher's UPS AND downs. 

lived to bless both the church and humanity. 
God does answer prayers for physical good; I 
know he does. On the God who has so often an- 
swered my prayers, I will still rely, scientific men 
and philosophers to the contrary notwithstanding. 
— Bishop Bowman. 

THE PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF JESUS. 

In a letter written by Publius Lentulus, Presi- 
dent of Judea, and sent by him to the senate of 
Eome, about the time when the fame of Jesus be- 
gan to be spread abroad in the world, he says : 

There lives at this time, in Judea, a man of sin- 
gular virtue, whose name is Jesus Christ, whom the 
barbarians esteem a prophet, but his own followers 
adore him as the offspring of the Immortal God. 
He calls back'the dead from their graves, and heals 
all sorts of diseases with a word or touch. He is 
tall and well shaped, of an amiable, reverent as- 
pect ; his hair of a color that can hardly be match- 
ed, falling in graceful curls below his ears, and very 
agreeably touching on his shoulders — parted on his 
crown like the Nazarity. His forehead is large and 
smooth ; his cheeks without other spot save that of 
a lovely red ; his nose and mouth formed with ex- 
quisite symmetry ; his beard thick, and of a color 
suitable to the hair of his head, reaching an inch 
below his chin, and parting in the middle like a 
fork ; his eyes bright, clear and serene. He rebukes 
with majesty, counsels with mildness ; his whole 
address, whether in word or deed, being elegant and 
grave. No man has seen him laugh, at any time, 
but he has wept frequently. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 207 

He is very temperate, modest, and wise ; a man 
for his excellent beauty and divine perfection, sur- 
passing the children of men. 

" Nothing to do! " and the Savior said: 
•'Follow thou me in the path I tread." 
Lord, lend thy help the journey through, 
Lest faint, we cry, " So much to do! " 

JOHN. 

You're going to leave the homestead, John- 

You're twenty-one to-day; 
And the old man will be sorry, John, 

To see you go away. 
You've labored late and early, John, 

And done the best you could; 
I ain't a goin' to stop you, John — 

I could'nt if I would. 

Yet something of your feelings, John, 

I s'pose I'd ought to know; 
Though many a day has passed away — 

'Twas forty years ago — 
When hope was high with me, John, 

And life lay all before — 
That I, with strong and measured stroke, 

" Cut loose," and pulled from shore. 

The years they come and go, my boy, 

The years they come and go: 
And raven locks and tresses brown 

Grow white as driven snow. 
My life has known its sorrows, John, 

Its trials and troubles sore; 
Yet God withal hath blest me, John, 

" In basket and in store." 

But one thing let me tell you, John, 

Before you make your start: 
There's more in being honest, John r 



:208 a teacher's ups and downs. 

Twice o'er, than being smart. 
Though rogues may seem to nourish, John, 

And sterling worth to fail — 
0, keep in view the good and true, 

'Twill in the end prevail. 

Don't think too much of money, John, 

And dig and delve and plan, 
And rake and scrape in every shape 

To hoard up all you can. 
Though fools may count their riches, John, 

In shillings, pounds, and pence, 
The best of wealth is youth and health, 

And good, sound common sense. 

J3e gentle to the aged, John, 

At poverty ne'er jest, 
.For many a brave and noble heart 

Beats 'neath a ragged vest. 
And the Savior of the world, my boy, 

Whose blood for us was shed, 
With all his grace had not a place 

Wherein to lay his head. 

And don't be mean or stingy, John, 

But lay a little by 
Of what you earn; you soon will learn 

How fast 'twill multiply, 
So, when old age comes creeping on, 

You'll have a goodly store 
Of wealth to furnish all your needs. 

And maybe something more. 

There's shorter cuts to fortune, John — 

We see them every day — 
But those who save their self-respect 

Climb up the good old way. 
"All is not gold that glitters," John. 

And make the vulgar stare; 
And those we deem the richest, John, 

Have oft the least to spare. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 209 

Don't meddle with your neighbors, John, 

Their sorrows or their cares ; 
You'll find enough to do, my boy, 

To rnind your own affairs. 
The world is full of idle tongues — 

You can afford to shirk; 
There's lots of people ready, John, 

To do such dirty work. 

And if amid the race for fame 

You win a shining prize, 
The humble worth of honest men 

You never should despise; 
For each one has his mission, John, 

In life's unchanging plan; 
Though lowly be his station, John, 

He is no less a man. 

Be good, be pure, be noble, John, 

Be honest, brave, be true, 
And do to others as you would 

That they should do to you. 
And place your trust in God, my boy, 

Though fiery darts be hurled; 
Then you can smile at Satan's rage 

"And face a frowning world.'' 

Good by ! may heaven guard and bless 

Your footsteps day by day; 
The old house will be lonesome, John, 

When you are gone away. 
The cricket's song upon the hearth 

Will have a sadder tone; 
The old familiar spots will be 

So lonely when you are gone. 

— Will Clifford, 



14 



4 210 a Teacher's ups and downs. 



THE CHRISTIAN AND HIS ECHO. 

True faith, producing love to God and man; — 
Say, Echo, is not this the gospel plan? 
The gospel plan. 

Must I my faith and love to Jesus show 
By doing good to all, both friend and foe? 
Both friend and foe. 

But, if a brother hates and treats me ill, 
Must I return him good, and love him still? 
Love him still. 

If he my failings watcheth to reveal, 
Must I his faults as carefully conceal? 
As carefully conceal. 

But, if my name and character he blast, 
And cruel malice, too, a long time last ; 
And if I sorrow and affliction know 
He loves to add unto my cup of woe ; 
In this uncommon, this peculiar case, 
Sweet Echo, say, must I still love and bless? 
Still love and bless. 

Whatever usage ill I may receive, 
Must I be patient still, and still forgive? 

Be patient still, and still forgive. 

Why, Echo, how is this? Thou'rt sure a dove! 
Thy voice shall teach me nothing else but love. 
Nothing else but love. 

Amen! with all my heart, then, be it so! 
'Tis all delightful, just and good, I know, 
And now to practice I'll directly go. 
Directly go. 

Things being so, whoever me reject, 
My gracious God, me surely will protect. 
Surely will protect. 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 211 

The last school that I taught was at Union 
School, Union Township, Jasper County, Missouri. 
Schools number two and five, in two different dis- 
tricts. This school was situated eleven miles south- 
east of Carthage. I lived in Carthage this fall and 
winter. I would get up of a Second-day morning 
and ride out there in my sulky, and be ready for 
school at nine o'clock. I boarded at Norris C. 
Hood's. It was close to the school house. 

It was a splendid place to board. The school 
was large. They told me that this was the hardest 
school to manage that there was in the county. 
The directors told the county commissioners to send 
them a teacher that could manage their school. He 
came direct to me, and told me he wanted me to go. 
I tried to beg off for a while, telling him I did not 
want to teach any more, but nothing would do but 
I should take the school. 

So I finally consented, and went out to see them. 
They very quickly hired me, and the school was to 
commence on first of 11th month. I was on hand, 
feeling a dread because of what I had been told of 
the character of the people. There were but fifteen 
or sixteen pupils present the first day of school. 
The school house was an old structure, having been 
built before the war, and the desks and furniture 
were in a dilapidated condition. 

The school increased daily, until I had between 
fifty and sixty pupils, some of them quite wild. I 
made it a rule, the first day of school, to allow no 
whispering, or noise of any kind. I found it quite 
difficult to keep them in order, but I held them to 



212 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

the mark, knowing that if I let them get the least 
advantage of me, I would be unable to control them. 
I had to use various means of punishment. 

There are some in nearly every school district 
who I call chronic grumblers. They always imag- 
ine their children are oppressed by the other chil- 
dren. There were some of these here, and it was 
not long before I heard from one of them, at least. 

One morning a short time after school com- 
menced, a man came to me in a terrible passion. 
He said his boy had been imposed upon, and that 
he didn't mean to stand it any longer ; that if I did 
not stop it he would. I said, "My friend, wait a 
few moments, and allow me to get at the bottom of 
the matter, and justice shall be done your boy." 

I called the school to order, and after quiet was 
established, I went from one to another, and question- 
ed them closely. I watched their eyes, for though 
children's tongues sometimes speak falsely, their 
eyes will always tell the truth. I was soon satisfied 
that this man's boy was chiefly to blame. 

I made it a rule that each scholar must go di- 
rect to his home as soon as school broke. One 
Sixth-day after school was dismissed, I got in my 
sulky and started home. When I had gone a few 
hundred yards, I heard loud talking in the woods, 
and looking back, saw that some of the bOys were 
fighting. I drove back as quickly as I could, and 
came upon several grown and half grown boys. The 
fighting had ceased, and some of the boys were 
scampering off through the woods. I recognized 
one of them by a red bucket in which he carried his 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 213 

dinner. The others tried to make excuses for being 
off their road home. I told them I would not argue 
with them then, hut would settle with them the next 
week. I then sent them home. 

On Second-day morning following the fight the 
scholars were all afraid that somebody would get 
a iiogging; the boys that had the fight did not 
come ; I never said a word about what had happen- 
ed. I heard some of them say, why teacher has for- 
got it. Fifth-day the one that had left the road, 
and was in the fight, came back to school. After I 
had opened the school I told him to come out in 
the floor and stand for one hour, by my watch, with 
his nose and toes against the wall and a book on 
his head. "Now," said I, "if thee lets that book fall off 
of thy head, I will give thee a flogging." The pill 
was bitter, but he came out ; after he had stood 
there about fifteen minutes he would swell out like 
a toad. That hour was the longest one he ever saw 
in his life, I'll warrant ; it is very hard work to stand 
so long. My opinion is he will not want to fight any 
more. 

The next day the other lad was there. I 
said to him, "Come here and stand with thy nose 
and toes against the wall for thirty minutes ; this 
is just for fighting." He says, "I willnot do that ; you 
may whip me, but I will not stand in the floor." I 
said to him, "Thee will stand in the floor ; I will just 
give thee one minute by my watch to come." Every- 
thing was as still as death. The time was nearly up. 
I started to him to take him there, and he got up 
and started, grumblingly saying "I wont." Irnarch- 



214 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

ed him out to the place. Oh how mad he was ; he 
could hardly see. I made him stand the time out. 

I made the other boys that left the road to 
see the fight come and stand on the floor and get 
a verse or two by heart, and say them before the 
school ; this was quite bitter for some of them, but 
they swallowed it very well, Everything was very 
quiet. They concluded that it was best not to fight 
any more while Mr. Hubbard stays about here 
teaching school. 

My school got along very well ; they thought I 
was quite close on them. There were two young- 
women that attended this school, by the name of 
Davis, who had the best committed lessons it has 
ever been my privilege to hear in the school room. 
They were perfect ladies. If a teacher had all such 
scholars as they were, he would never have any 
trouble with them. I had every variety of pupils in 
this school that could be thought of ; some of the 
best and some of the worst — some of the best les- 
sons, and some of the poorest. There is one thing 
I can say for this school, that it was the quietest 
and stillest school, during school hours, that I ever 
saw ; but it took hard labor, of body and mind, to 
keep it that way. Teachers ought to get as much 
again as they generally do for teaching, for it is the 
hardest work I have ever done in my life. It wears 
very fast on the system. It is a continual strain on 
the system, not only in time of school, but out of 
school also. I felt, even when I commenced my 
school, that I ought not to teach any more, but 
should go to work entirely for the Lord. Every 



A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 215 

morning when I went to school it seemed as though 
something said to me : Leave this work, and go to 
work in my vineyard. But while I did labor in the 
school room, I endeavored to do my duty as best 
I could. 

There was a circumstance that happened in this 
school, that I believe would be right to narrate here. 
It was my rule for each pupil to get a declamation 
or write an essay once in two weeks, and if they did 
not have one, I should not hear them recite any 
more until they did. There was one young woman 
who did not have either. I asked her her reasons. 
She said she did not want to. Said I : "Does thee 
not know what the rule is?" She said, "Yes." 
"Then," said I, "I will not hear thee recite any 
more until thee obeys." She got mad and said she 
could go home. "All right," said I. She took her 
books and went home, and her folks got very 
mad at me because I did not let her stay at 
school. 

It is not all sweet in school teaching ; there is 
much of the bitter mixed along. In my experience 
of twenty years as a teacher, I have had many ups 
and downs, many sorrows and joys, many judg- 
ments placed upon the school. Every night there 
are sometimes as many as fifty persons pass their 
judgment upon the teacher. He may do the best 
he can, and yet he will be censured by some ; he is 
either too close, or is not close enough. I have al- 
ways endeavored to avoid partiality, and have tried 
to treat all alike as near as possible. When I look 
back over my life, and see my ups and downs, I 



216 A TEACHER'S UPS AND DOWNS. 

must say that the Lord has preserved ine through 
many dangers. May His name be praised. 

This is the twenty-seventh term of school that I 
have taught, in Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and the 
Indian Territory. Somewhere near two thousand 
children have attended my schools, from first to 
last. Many of those children have gone to their 
long homes ; many have grown up and settled in 
life. I would have been glad to have given the 
names of all my pupils in this book, but many of 
their names have passed out of my memory. Those 
that I have missed I esteem as highly as any. The 
prayer of my heart is, that my pupils and myself 
may so walk that, when done with the things of this 
world, we may all meet in that world of glory. 

This ends my teaching. I have now given up all 
to work for my blessed Master, who has done so 
much for me. All praise be to His name, Jesus 
my Savior. 

Good by, pupils, until we meet again with Christ 
our Teacher ! Amen and amen ! 



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